Rain
by Delinquent Panda
Summary: Andria was asleep peacefully in her bed... That is, until a certain actor turns up in the rain banging on her door for help. How will Dria react when she sees who is at her little house in the country side? (Real world, Tom Hiddleston x OC, comments and reviews are helpful)
1. Chapter 1

Rain

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"Hello? Is anyone home?!" He called as his knuckles rapped on the door. His shirt was soaked through and the cold country air chilled him to the bone. At this point it looked like he wasn't going to be making it to that early morning shoot after all.

Andria yawned and stumbled out of bed. She looked over at the illuminated numbers on the clock sitting on the nightstand. "Mhn… 3am? What could they want…?" She mumbled to herself softly as she slipped on her robe and walked down into the living area toward the front door. Cautiously she called through the door, "W-What do you want?" She hoped that maybe they had left already as she talked but no such luck.

He perked up a little hearing her voice. "My car broke down about 500 metres down the road and my cell phone is dead. I'm on my way to a very important job. Do you have a phone I can use to call for help?" He said hopefully.

_Oh my, why does that voice sound familiar?_ Dria thought as she wondered whether or not to let him in. Grabbing the step, (as she was a whole five foot and half an inch tall,) she peeked through the peep hole and just about fell off her chair. It couldn't be. Things like that just didn't happen.

"Oh! Um, o-of course! Please… Come in." She said as she fidgeted with the lock and chain and opened the door letting the poor man in. _What. Do. I. Do!_ She thought as she fought to keep her mind from imploding. It was him. The one man she _never_ thought she would ever have the pleasure of meeting. He was even more handsome to look at in person; a camera didn't have the capacity to capture that much perfection in one photo.

He sighed in relief and walked inside, smiling gently at her. "I do apologise for waking you at this ungodly hour, but I had no other option. It's pretty isolated here. Oh and sorry for dripping on the floor too." He said and ran his hand through his curly golden hair.

Andria bit her lip with a slight smile and shook her head "It's fine, I'll go get you a towel if you like? The phone is just there on the bench in the, um, kitchen." She said and tried to remain cool calm and collected as she went up the hall to the linen cupboard. _It's him, it's really him! But what is he doing out here? I didn't know there was a film being made around here… _She thought to herself as she walked back clutching the fluffy white towel.

"Okay, thank you…. Goodbye." He was just finishing up the phone call as she returned. Turning to see her in the archway, he smiled and held his arm out for the towel. "Thanks darling." He said in that smooth silky voice that seemed to wash over Dria and sent a soft shiver down her smile as he called her darling.

The heat rose in her cheeks and they turned rosy pink. "You're welcome. So… did they give you an estimation of what time they'd be here?" She asked as she handed him the towel.

"Yes, the nearest road assist vehicle is about an hour away, so I'm afraid I might be imposing on you for a while my dear." He said as he dried off his hair and face, like him imposing on her was a problem at all –she was more than happy to oblige. "Do you have a dryer? I'm afraid my shirt is soaked through."

Dria nodded and looked over at his poor drenched state. "If you'd like, I can dry off your clothes and you can have a shower to warm up?" She offered. "I'd hate to think of you getting ill because I let you freeze."

"That'd be lovely darling. Oh, where are my manners? I'm Tom." He said with a lopsided smile that was so cute yet drop-dead sexy at the same time. The way his white button down shirt stuck time exposing his toned chest didn't help at all in letting Andria keep her cool either.

"Um, I'm Andria… But you can just call be Dria, everybody does." She said and swept a loose piece of hair back behind her ear. "I'll show you where the bathroom is." She began walking down the hall and up the stairs. "If you just leave your clothes outside the door, I'll dry them for you."

"Okay darling, thanks for all the help." He said and winked at her before closing the door.

Once he was in the bathroom he smirked to himself and began stripping down. _Dria, huh? What a cute girl… I will have to remember to thank her again for her assistance sometime. At least I have a chance of making it too the shoot before it's too too late. _He turned on the shower faucet and while he waited for the water to heat up, he piled his clothes outside like the girl had said. After the room was warm with steam, Tom let the water wash over him and warm his muscles slowly. It was nice and refreshing after his earlier distress. He could hear footsteps in the hallway and figured it must be Andria fetching his things.

_Okay, Dria, breathe. Don't panic. It's just Tom Hiddleston. In your shower. In the middle of the night. Naked. That's… Oh who am I kidding!? This is the best day of my life! _Dria tried to internalise her delight as she set his clothes on to dry. There was no actor's work she loved more than his. Tom could make a character come to life more than anyone else she had ever witnessed and he was such a gentleman… _No, get a hold of yourself. Be polite, and DO NOT EMBARRASS YOURSELF!_ Her conscious screamed at her.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Andria put the kettle on as she needed a cup of tea and knowing that Tom would probably also enjoy one while they waited for him to be picked up. She also took out some apple crumble she had baked yesterday afternoon and warmed it up a little. It seemed she had gone from sluggish to bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in an instant after meeting Tom.

When the kettle whistled, she removed it from the stove and made the tea. It was earl grey; she hoped he didn't mind as she wasn't sure what he liked. After setting it out nicely on the coffee table, she left the food and drinks to go and make herself look more presentable and changed into something less scanty than her silk pyjamas.

The dryer beeped and she headed back downstairs, fetching Tom's clothes to iron them. Dria was thankful he was taking his time as she hated to think of him turning up to his appointment in wrinkled clothing. She hung them up neatly on the bathroom door handle just as she heard the water shut off and headed back downstairs to make sure everything was still nice and hot.


	2. Chapter 2

Tom towelled himself off and dried his hair a little, though drying it naturally tended to make it a little less unruly and he figured that was probably best if he needed to be at work soon. Hearing footsteps heading back downstairs, he thought she must have been putting his dry clothes out for him and smiled. This Andria girl was going out of her way to help him even though he had woken her at 3am and taken advantage of her hospitality, it was really quite sweet.

After he wrapped the towel around his waist, he opened the door to see his clothes dried and perfectly pressed. _Wow, I hadn't expected her to go as far as ironing them for me on top of everything else. That was lovely of her…_ Tom thought as he dressed himself with a half-smile. She was so considerate of him; it was a breath of fresh air not to be jumped by every woman he happened upon. He had a feeling that she knew who he was, but she was so normal about it that he didn't feel like he wanted to escape as soon as possible –well he needed to for his job, but it wasn't that feeling of panic when sprinting away from another Hiddlestoner mob.

As per usual, his shirt was left with the top two buttons undone, exposing a sliver of his chest and he tucked it into his slacks. When his pants were done up and belted, Tom walked downstairs to see Dria curled up quietly in the living room with a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other. She looked so serene; it made his half smile grow into a full one as he watched her until his footsteps alerted her to his presence.

Of course, she wasn't as serene as she appeared. Dria's heart was racing as she looked up to see Tom with still-damp hair and she saw that she had been mistaken in thinking that maybe having his clothes dry would allow her to be less side tracked by his body –he was still just as sexy in that tight fitting shirt and tailored pants as when they were sodden. "Oh… Hey." She said and smiled sweetly at him, her cheeks going pink as she hoped he hadn't caught her admiring his form.

He had, but Tom kept it to himself so as not to embarrass her. "Hey," He strolled over and sat down on the other side of the sofa, leaving a comfortable distance between them. "Thank you for pressing my clothes, you really have gone above and beyond for me." He smiled gently at her and looked toward the table, "Is that for me?" Tom said and nodded to the plate with the untouched apple crumble slice and the tea resting beside it.

"Oh, um, yes. I thought you might like something to snack on while you waited for that assistance to arrive." She said as she closed her book at placed it beside her plate on the coffee table. "It's earl-grey, I-I hope that's okay." She bit her lip slightly, hoping it was. It would be just her luck to serve the one type of drink he hated. Nomming on a bit of apple crumble, Dria watching him putting milk and some sugar into it.

"It's perfect actually." Tom said in his gorgeous voice that made her want to melt every time she heard it. After taking a sip of the tea he picked up the plate and a dessert fork. "Did you bake this yourself Andria?" He asked before having a bite. _How perfect is this woman? _He thought. _Not only has she let me use her phone, shower, and dryer, but she pressed my clothes and fed me –my favourite tea and dessert no less! _It was quite stunning really. She didn't seem like the stalker type that just had his favourite dessert lying around on the off chance Tom Hiddleston arrived on her doorstep.

Dria's cheeks went deep red at the praise and she nodded happily. "Mm Hm~ Do you like it?" She asked as he chewed and waited for a reply while taking another bite of her own.

"Indeed I do, darling." He said and it was soon demolished.

She followed his gaze when she noticed it seemed fixed in one spot, seeing it lead to where her half-finished slice sat on the table. With a soft giggle she held it up to him. "I'm not going to finish this, if you'd like it?"

Tom grinned sheepishly at Dria and took the plate, his long fingers brushing lightly over the tips of hers as he did so. "You are a very generous person, aren't you?" He said as he watched the blush that had only faded minutes ago reappear. _Cute._

"I, um, I just wanted to be helpful… You've already had enough trouble being caught out in the rain in the middle of nowhere, not to mention when you have a place to be…" She said and looked down, fidgeting with her fingers, and biting her lip softly –she had a habit of that. Again she became curious. "Oh, by the way, what is it you are on your way to? I mean, if you don't mind me asking…."

"Oh, a promotional shoot for a new movie. It's called Only Lovers Left Alive." He said and smiled. "I don't mind you asking questions; answers are the least I can offer you for your hospitality."

_Then what's the most?_ She found herself thinking as he said that and was thankful that her brain-mouth filter had been working. Dria would probably die of shame if she had allowed herself to speak her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh yes, I've seen the trailer for that movie. You look brilliant." She froze and turned deep cherry red. "I mean, it looks brilliant. N-not that you aren't. You're gorgeous. I mean… Kill me now…" And there it went. Maybe if she had just come out with the first thing that had gone through her mind she could have at least passed it off as a joke or _something _at least. Now she looked like a complete idiot. _And cue tom Hiddleston running out of my life. *Sigh.*_

Tom raised an eyebrow and set down the now empty plate. "Kill you? When you look so adorable? I think not, Darling." He said and grinned, looking away from Dria's eyes. "Eheheh…" He chuckled softly. Was that embarrassment Dria could hear in his laugh? _She thinks I'm brilliant…_ His grin widened. _I hope I didn't just make her uncomfortable…_

Hell no, Dria was over the moon that they appeared to be feeling they were on the same level of social suicide. She looked away now as well, hiding the wide smile of satisfaction that spread on her face. _He thinks I'm adorable! Holy shit… HOLY SHIT! TOM fucking HIDDLESTON thinks that I am ADORABLE!_

"So, what were you reading before I interrupted you?" Tom asked looking at the book whose title was obscured her teacup. It was leather bound and embossed in gold.

"Hm?" Andria said, being torn from her internalised screams of joy. "Macbeth."

He smiled and looked back into her eyes. "Who could refrain, that had a heart to love, and in that heart courage to make love known?" He quoted flawlessly, and Dria swore she had never heard a more perfect sound in her life.

As if her face hadn't been flushed enough in the short time they had known each other, she returned to being rosy pink. _Either he's watched '10 Things I Hate About You' too much, or he literally the most romantic man currently walking the earth. _She didn't doubt that it was indeed the latter.

Thankfully, before Dria could say anything else silly and kill the mood, it was done for her. There was a knock on the door. "Is there a Mr. Hiddleston here? It's the roadside assistance." Dria couldn't tell if she was happy that a distraction had come from her verbal faux-pas, or sad that the distraction was running early and her time with Tom was cut short._ It's not like I really had a chance of meeting him in the first place, I should just be ecstatic over having just this much time. Plus, I didn't need to fight Hiddlestoners or paparazzi to do so._

"I'm afraid that's my cue to leave, my darling. I have a flight to catch this afternoon so I'm afraid I cannot return the hospitality you have shown me this morning, but perhaps another time…" He said and stood, leaning over to leave a soft gentle kiss on her cheek before walking out and closing the door. And that was it. Tom Hiddleston was gone.

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**A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading so far! ^_^ Sorry that Chapters 2 and 3 are short, but just when I thought I had finished my train of thought in Chapter 2 and uploaded it, I was inspired again and managed to get this short bit done before I had to hit the hay. Just thought I should explain in case people got annoyed at the small chapter size, I normally aim for at least a 1000-1500 word chapter and will try to stick to that in the future. Also, do you agree that there is no more perfect sound in the world than Hiddles quoting Shakespeare? :P **


	4. Chapter 4

For around a half an hour, Andria just sat on her couch contemplating whether or not the last hour had actually happened. Her cheek tingled where Tom had kissed her even this long after the fact. The only proof she had that he had ever been here were the extra cup and plate and the damp towel that hung on the rail in the bathroom and soon that evidence would be lost.

Dria knew she needed to return to reality and head in to work in three hours, but it seemed like the moment she did that, it really would all just be a dream…

Tom, on the other hand, was as happy as could be. Of course _he_ didn't need to question the existence of the girl that had been so kind to him this morning, though he had a feeling that she might be doing so to him. He knew that people seemed to have this sort of thought process that famous people were on another level; that they didn't just run into people the way that everyone else did.

Andria was sweet, generous, and best of all, read Shakespeare and made quite possibly the best apple crumble he had ever had in his life. Tom wanted to see her again. But he had to leave for his flight right after these last pictures, and he doubted his manager Luke's car would have good enough luck to break down outside her house as the one Tom drove here had done.

When his last shot was done and his movie hair and makeup was removed, Luke ushered him toward the car and began driving back toward the city. Tom stared out the window of the back seat and watched the countryside fly by. Knowing that in another ten minutes or so that they would pass Andria's house, Tom took one of the notebooks that Luke carried around in his car in case he got an important call on the run and began writing a quick letter.

By this point in time, Andria was already hard at work in the bakery, decorating a wedding cake for someone having a ceremony in the town this week. She had tried to forget Tom and the way he had quoted Macbeth to her and the stupid stumbling of her words, but thoughts of him were waging war on her concentration today. Dria's boss was nice enough and, seeing that she was obviously tired and distracted, let her leave early as soon as the cake decal was done.

When she arrived home, Andria saw an envelope sticking out of her letterbox. It wasn't with a name or address on it, leading her to believe it must've been hand delivered. _Who would've gone out of their way to give me a letter like this?_ She thought and instantly her mind conjured up an image of Tom Hiddleston, but she instantly quashed the notion._ No way, he had to come this way to get his flight, sure, but why would he stop?_

She took the blank envelope inside and plonked herself down on her bed. Opening it, she saw it concealed a single sheet of paper with only a handful of words on it:

_I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer. I will be back in England a month from today, so I hope I can make up for it then. _

_Sincerely yours,_

_Tom x_

Dria couldn't believe her eyes. _It really was him! A month… I can totally wait a month. Totally._ She thought. _...If he remembers me in a month. _She sighed softly and pinned the letter up beside her calendar. It was a long shot, but at least with Tom's letter she had proof that when she woke up tomorrow that today wasn't just a bittersweet dream and that it perhaps wasn't a one off…

Andria looked at the calendar and sighed. She had marked off each day since the letter arrived and there were only two spaces left before Tom said he would return; today and tomorrow. She doubted that he would arrive casually upon her doorstep like she had imagined a hundred times over in her head._ That was how it happened the first time, maybe it will again?_ She thought to herself as she marked off the last day beside the circle. _Will he remember though? He might be too busy…_

Dria sat down as she waited for some blueberry muffins to bake in the oven. The thoughts of whether Tom remembered may very well make these next two days the longest of her life and it was the weekend as well, just to make things that much more slow moving. There wasn't much to distract Dria apart from baking but even that required a period of her sitting idle in the lounge. She wanted to do something, anything really, to try to take her mind off of him and turned on the TV. What was on the screen you ask? None other than Tom Hiddleston as Loki in Thor.

Curling up more on the couch, Andria decided to just go ahead and watch. It appeared that life wasn't prepared to make it easy on her today. After half an hour she paused the TV to go and take out the muffins, making herself some tea and taking the cup and a muffin out to the lounge. When she was just about to sit down, there was a knock on the door that made her jump three feet in the air.

Her heart was racing a mile a minute as she made sure she looked presentable and went to open the door. "Hel-" Her heart sank as she saw it wasn't Tom. _What did I expect? He isn't even meant to be back till tomorrow… _"Hello." She greeted the man that stood before her. He was holding a huge bouquet of flowers and she figured he must have been lost on the way to the town.

"Hi, I have a delivery from a T. Hiddleston to this address." He said and held out the massive bouquet to her.

"O-Oh, um, thank you very much…" She said stunned as she took the flowers from him. She closed the door as the man left and went to sit down, putting the flowers on the table and checking the card:

_I hope you are free tomorrow night._

_-T._


	5. Chapter 5

Andria's cheeks burned deep red as she read the words he had written her. _Tom hasn't forgotten about me… I'm going to see him again!_ She kissed the card and grinned like an idiot as she smelled the flowers. They were divine, he really had brilliant taste. _Oh no! What am I going to wear?! He wants to see me tomorrow night, does that mean dinner? A …date? No, it can't be. He just wants to make it up to me for helping him out that day… It doesn't hurt to make a good impression though._ With that thought, she raced upstairs and began tearing out everything in her wardrobe to find the perfect outfit.

Andria wasn't chubby; she just had meat on her bones giving her a classical beauty, a kind of Marilyn Munroe-esque figure which was made her more attractive than the super twiggy girls that were always in the magazines and movies as she didn't look like she was starving herself. She had a classic hourglass body with a great bust and butt –basically the best genetics ever. Her short height meant she could wear sky-high heels and not worry about being taller than a guy she was with, though she doubted anyone was in danger of towering over Tom. Her wavy rich chocolate coloured hair was just past her shoulder blades and contrasted with her pale complexion beautifully, helping to bring out her soft pink lips and long-lashed eyes. Dria's eye colour seemed to differ from day to day -sometimes they looked grey, sometimes they were dark brown, but most often they were greenish hazel with a darker ring around the edge of her iris. Despite what she thought about herself, Andria was really quite gorgeous and Tom knew it too, even if he _had_ first seen her with bed hair and tiredness plain on her face.

After an hour of trying to decide between the three dresses she owned, Dria decided to go with her simple black strapless dress. It hugged her curves in all the right ways, and flared at her hips, emphasising the sexy sway of her hips as she walked. The dress was the kind that could be dressed up or down easily depending on her accessories making it a safe bet for whatever Tom had in mind tomorrow.

_Perhaps he just wants more apple crumble…_ The thought made her giggle despite her nerves about tomorrow. _I should make him one! So he doesn't need to eye up my plate._ Andria grinned to herself and practically skipped down to the kitchen to start heating up the oven.

She kept the movie playing as she worked on the crumble. It seemed that Tom was taking over her mind again –well, more so than usual. The smell of the flowers in the living room mixed with the scent of stewed apples, the sound of his voice from the film, and the letter that was pinned up before her made sure of that.

As Andria finished her baking and the credits rolled on the TV, she knew she no longer had reasons to procrastinate the housework. The house needed to look immaculate or else she was afraid Tom would think her slovenly. It wasn't like her place was very big, but there was a lot of time used in moving around steps and things so she could dust the tops of cabinets etc. and that made it more than a little annoying.

_Great,_ Dria thought to herself as she finished on her bedroom which she had left till last, _Now I just need to put some fresh sheets on my bed in the morning and then I will be done… Wait! I don't need to change them; I just washed them four days ago. The only reason to change them now would be so that they're fresh in case we did…__**that**__. _Dria shook her head trying to keep her thoughts out of the gutter. "I will sort it in the morning." She sighed and flopped down on the bed, too tired to think about anything other than sleep after all the back breaking work she had put into the house today.

The next day Andria was thankful she had worn herself out with the house work yesterday because if she had let these nerves get the best of her last night she wouldn't have had an ounce of rest. Her stomach felt like she was housing a meadow full of butterflies. It was difficult to tell how much of it was excitement and how much was fear.

Dria spent the day going over the house once more, ended up completely doing over her room (It never hurt to be optimistic, right?) and went to the market to make sure there was plenty of food in the house.

When it was around 6pm, Andria had a shower and did herself up, hoping he wouldn't turn up before she was fully ready. Luckily he didn't. As she looked herself over in her full length mirror, Dria wished she had more jewellery; she only had the earrings and necklace her mother had given her and they were petite making her feel a little plain.

She began to regret her decision of wearing a plain dress but it was too late to do anything about it because at that moment there was a knock on the front door.

"Hello, darling." Tom said in his smooth, seductive voice as she opened the door. Andria knew she would never be able to forget that voice after he had recited that Shakespeare to her a month ago.

"You're… here…" She mumbled as she gazed up at him. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had thought that this was really just her going mental and that he wouldn't really show. _I mean, why would he? It's Tom. Fucking. Hiddleston._ Her eyes were the size of saucers as she took in his appearance as he leaned against the doorway casually. He was so sexy… so… so… sexy… _Get a hold of yourself! Do not drool all over him! …Do that in your own time._ Dria's Conscious screamed at her.

He raised one of his eye brows a little. "I am. You did get the flowers, didn't you?" He asked, a little worried that he seemed to have caught her off guard. He waited patiently for her reply as she seemed a little overwhelmed at the current moment in time.

She stepped aside, grinning a little sheepishly, and let him in properly. "I did, but… I guess I thought it was too good to be true."

Tom could hardly bear how adorable Andria looked to him right now as she stood beside the flowers he had sent her. She was standing with her eyes looking away shyly and her left arm holding her right while her right hand fidgeted with the material of her dress. He smiled his trademark smile with his tongue showing between his teeth just a little as he walked over to her, standing a little closer than he had before, so she would need to lift up her head to look at his face. "Now why would you think that? I would never stand you up, my dear. Plus, I have been waiting an entire month to see you again." His smile widened a little.

_What is he saying? He has been waiting to see me? What is my life?!_ A billion and one questions ran through Dria's head as she looked into his frosted blue eyes. Finally she became a fully functioning human being again and straightened up, grinning widely. "I have too." _Shit, that was too corny… Um…_ "Thank you for the flowers. White Orchids and roses are my favourite. How did you know?"

"I'm just a psychic." He joked and then laughed his cute 'Ehehehe'. "I'm happy you liked them. I wanted to make sure you remembered me."

"How could I forget the night that Tom Hiddleston showed up drenched on my doorstep in the middle of the night?" Dria said, returning to her more normal tone of voice with a sceptical expression. Tom had a soothing presence that made her feel like she didn't need to try to be something she wasn't around him like most celebrities did.

He chuckled softly again and ran his hand through his dark strawberry blond curls. "I suppose that must've made quite an impression… Well I still need to make it up to you for imposing on you that night, so I thought I would take you out. How would you like to accompany me to dinner and a film?"

Andria was surprised at the sheer normalcy of his request, somehow she had built up the impression that he would not want to do something so…_ cliché_. But she also loved that he did. "I would love to." She smiled and grabbed her purse from the counter top.

"Brilliant." He said and walked out the door beside her. He made his way to the car and opened her door for her in his classic gentlemanly manner. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?" He said as he put the keys in the ignition and they began on their way toward the restaurant in the city.

Andria turned deep scarlet. "O-Oh, um, thank you very much." Her mind was bouncing around with joy; all that effort was not for naught._ He thinks I'm beautiful~ He thinks I'm beautiful~" _She sang in her head the whole way to the restaurant.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! I just wanted to apologise for taking longer with writing this chapter as I had some writers block -which you can probably tell- so I made it a little bit longer than usual ^-^ Also, I am starting university this week so I am afraid that updates are going to continue to have a few days between them (like it might take up to a week or so to get a new chapter in) as I now have college work to worry about, but don't worry because I will definitely finish this story. (If I don't update chapters enough, feel free to remind me in the comments and I will do something about it :P)**


	6. Chapter 6

Tom and Andria spent the entire time talking at the restaurant. Dria swore she could listen to him talk forever. It seemed like he never had a short answer about anything, and she loved that. It showed how deeply and intelligently he thought about whatever she said and would reply so animatedly that she was enthralled by him.

Although he knew he was doing more of the talking, it didn't seem to Tom that he was monopolising the conversation. Andria, he realised, was not as talkative as he was. She made him feel like she was interested in everything he had to say, and when she did speak, it was always thoughtful and captivating to Tom. Her face while she was concentrating on what he had to say was cute; she would rest her head on one of her hands and gaze at him with a slight smile on her lips. Sometimes she would bite her lip gently without realising and it would give her more of a sexy edge.

_I wonder… Does she like me that way? Probably not, a girl like her must have a partner surely…_ Tom thought to himself, and then he realised she had skilfully avoided anything to do with friends and family throughout the evening. How had he let that past him? And what was she hiding? Maybe he was just thinking too much into it. But then again, maybe not.

Andria saw as he took a sip of his wine thoughtfully, that something had clicked in Tom's mind. _Oh dear, here it comes…_ She braced herself to have to explain about her family. Looking down and fidgeting with what was left of her dinner, she waited, and waited. _Maybe he didn't figure it out? No, he's smarter than that…_ Dria looked up to see a look of compassion and understanding in Tom's eyes. He understood she was hiding something, but he also wasn't going to make her say something she obviously didn't want to.

He smiled and took her hand that was still resting on the table in his. Tom's hand dwarfed hers, making her hand feel warm and secure in hers, giving her an all over sense of safety from his gentle touch. "Don't worry, darling. You're frowning, but you're much more beautiful when you're smiling." He said, and his free hand moved up to gently smooth the furrow in her brow and swept down to lightly brush her cheek before pulling away quickly as Tom remembered himself. "I, uh, sorry. That was uncalled for…" He apologised and his cheeks turned slightly pink.

The expression on his face and the tingling sensation his touch left on her skin meant Andria couldn't help but smile sweetly at him. "It's fine. Really." She said and gave the hand that was just pulling away from hers a gentle squeeze.

He had that adorable grin where his tongue stuck out just a little between his teeth and his hand was now resting against hers once more. Andria thought that this must be what people described as those moments where you just wanted to be frozen there forever.

Of course they couldn't stay like that forever though. The waiter appeared to ask if they needed anything but it was about time for the movie so Tom paid the bill. Andria thought she glimpsed a phone number written on the bill and looked up at the boy. He seemed star struck in more than the way that boys usually were to male actors. Oh dear. He was hitting on Tom.

Andria watched Tom to see how he was dealing with the situation. It seemed like he was writing something down for the guy but when she looked at the waiter's expression it seemed bittersweet.

"Did he do what I thought he did?" She asked Tom softly as they stood and began walking out of the restaurant.

"Yes, but I just wrote him a note back saying it was nice meeting him and thanks for his service. I hate to disappoint fans like that…" Tom said as he opened the door for her to go out. That was so like Tom, feeling sorry for everything even though it wasn't his fault.

"There was nothing you could've done if you weren't interested. He looked like he was still over the moon that you wrote something to him. It was sweet. Most people would just ignore it completely." Andria said and smiled gently at him before walking to the door of the car.

Heaven forbid a door would be opened by Dria's hand however, because Tom was there opening it in an instant. She giggled softly and hopped in the passenger seat. _Is anything she does ever _not _adorable?_ Tom asked himself as he heard the melodic sound and then proceeded to drive them to a small theatre on the edge of the city.

Andria grinned as she looked around at the little cinema. It was all old fashioned and there was hardly anyone there. It seemed like the perfect place for a movie date –Wait, this wasn't a date. At least, she didn't _think_ it was. Tom hadn't said it was, but then again he hadn't said it wasn't either. The mood at the restaurant and now in this little movie theatre had her beginning to wonder.

Tom returned to her side holding the tickets and took her hand casually in his as they walked to the kiosk next to the entrance of the right cinema. He handed the tickets over and walked with Dria into the dimly lit room. It was empty and the lights were already going down.

"It seems we're the only ones here." She said softly as she walked over to the best seats and sat down beside him. It was true, she noted, that he really couldn't keep his legs close together when he sat because they were so long.

"It would appear that way indeed. But it's nicer like this, don't you think?" He asked looking over at her for a moment as there was a gap between the previews.

She nodded and smiled at him. Dria was surprised as Tom's arm draped over her shoulder and pulled her a little closer as the movie began to play.

It was difficult to say what the movie was about, apart from a guy wanting a girl who worked in a coffee shop, because that was all either had gleaned before the tension in the air began to build and both Tom and Andria were hyper aware of each other.

Tom opened his mouth to say something a few times, but for once he was at a loss for words. About twenty minutes to the end of the movie, he plucked up the courage to at least say _something_. "Dria…" He began, and the nerves hit. He tried to turn the nerves into excitement as he did when he was nervous for a performance but it didn't work as well when he was trying to say something romantic to the most perfect woman he had ever met. "I…"

"Yes?" She said softly in a breathless whisper as she turned to face Tom. As she did, their faces were brought within inches of each other. Andria gazed into his eyes that appeared almost grey in the low light and he gazed into hers. They didn't need to speak now as their eyes searched one another's, both seeing what they already knew. This wasn't just repaying a debt anymore.


	7. Chapter 7

She couldn't take a moment more of this tension, Andria wanted to kiss him, _needed_ to kiss him. So she did. Without a moment of hesitation to judge how she would be received, she caressed Tom's lips with her own in a soft sweet kiss that Tom, after realising what was happening, more than happily returned.

As their lips danced with each other in tender embrace, Andria felt like her lips were burning –not a painful burning, a tingly pleasant heat which she knew was that special 'spark' that people were meant to have when they kissed their true loves in fairy tales.

Tom slowly began to kiss her with more fervour, wrapping her in his strong yet gentle embrace and pulling her into his lap so they could continue this moment more comfortably. Andria's arms draped themselves around his neck as she returned his heightened passion in her kiss. She didn't want to open her eyes, terrified that the moment she did it would all have turned out to be a dream, but eventually they had to break away for air.

They sat in each other's arms, Tom hugging her to his chest as they both breathed heavily. He had honestly forgotten what it was he was going to say before, although it seemed the kiss had done the talking for them. What was this now? Were they a couple? Was this a one-off? These questions ran through both of their heads as Dria pulled back to look into Tom's eyes.

"I…" She began, wondering if she should apologise for the abrupt kiss. "I um…" Her blush was visible even with only the light from the movie. _He kissed me back… Tom Hiddleston kissed me back. He doesn't seem the type to take something so passionate like that lightly. Does this mean I can let myself believe he might like me back?_ She thought as she gazed at him.

Reaching up with his right hand, Tom brushed the back of his hand lightly over her hot cheek. "You are the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen." He murmured softly with a slight smile at the corners of his lips as he looked into her eyes. "That car breaking down was one of the best things that ever happened to me." He whispered to Dria before leaning in to claim her lips once again.

The lights in the cinema had the most imperfect timing as they turned on just as Tom's lips were barely two millimetres from hers. They paused in surprise, maybe if they had paid attention to the movie at all, they would have known the film was about to end. Both could feel the warmth of each other's lips and then each other's soft breath as they began to laugh. It was hilarious when they realised that neither had been paying any attention to anything but the other's presence as they had sat there for the last hour and a half.

Tom smiled and gently lifted Andria up off of his lap, still holding her close by the hips as he towered over her. "It's late. Let's get you home, darling." He said gently and smiled, offering her his arm as they left the little theatre. She took it, walking close beside him, and rested her head lightly against his arm until they were back at the car.

The ride home was silent, but it was comfortable silence. Andria and Tom didn't need to say anything to know that they were both over the moon with how tonight -well Dria supposed this really did mean it was a date now- went. Most of the time Tom held Andria's hand on the console between their seats as he drove; if he had to use the gear stick his hand would always return to hers right after.

When he pulled up to her driveway, Andria was reminded of the crumble she had made for Tom earlier. "Want to come inside for a while?" She asked and turned to him with a gentle smile.

He nodded and got out of the car, walking up to the door beside her. _I don't want to leave yet… I want some more time before I have to tell her I'm leaving again tomorrow night._ Tom thought as walked in with her.

Sitting down on the sofa in the lounge, Tom waited whilst listening to Andria mucking around in the kitchen. She was making some tea and putting the crumble in a decorative cake box for him. After putting down the tray with the tea, milk, and sugar, she sat down across from him and held up to box.

"Here, I thought you might want this –s-since you liked it last time" She said and bit her bottom lip softly; a little nervous and hoping he wasn't just being overly polite last time. Gauging the expression on his face as he opened the box, she realised she needn't worry. Tom looked like a kid on Christmas. She giggled softly and shuffled a little closer hoping to get a little…_ gratitude._

He smiled that adorable trademark grin of his and pulled her in for a small chaste kiss. "Thank you darling. I swear Andria; you bake the best crumble I've ever had. And I know all about about apple crumble –it's my favourite." He put the box on the table and pulled her a little closer so that she was now lying on his chest with her lower half between his long longs. "Well, there is one sweet thing that I want even more…" He said in a low, seductive tone which brought the blood rushing to Dria's cheeks.

_Holy shit, he means me!_ She thought as he took her breath away with a sweet sensual kiss. "Mmm…" She hummed softly into the kiss, hugging herself closer to Tom so her whole body was pressed against his. He gently ran the tip of his tongue over her lip requesting entry into her mouth which she happily granted, letting Tom take control.

If things weren't already heating up, Tom's warm hands began to move slowly up her thigh. A soft shiver chilled down her spine as his hands reached the hem of her dress and kept going until they were on her hips under the skirt of her dress. "Mh….nh… st… stop." Andria said as Tom's lips had moved to her neck, freeing her own. "Stop! …Please."

Tom instantly pulled away from her, searching her expression which had turned to one of... was that fear? "Darling… I'm sorry, what did I do wrong?" He said softly, reaching up to rest his hand on her shoulder but pulled back with a second thought.

"No. It's not your fault, Tom. Really. It's just me and my stupid head." She groaned softly and ran her hands over her face before clasping them together in her lap. "I know you know that I don't talk about my private life." She began softly when Dria saw that Tom was not quite following. "It's just… that…" Andria didn't know what to say, she wasn't ready to tell him, not yet.

"You don't need to tell me, my darling. I understand." He said softly and opened his arms to offer her a comforting embrace which she happily took, resting her head where she could listen to the soothing sound of his heart beat and feel the vibrations as he spoke gently to her. "I'm happy just like this –holding the most perfect person in the world." He said softly, combing his long fingers gently through her wavy hair.

"You stole my line. I'm kind of broken –far from perfect." She murmured against his chest, she had calmed right down in his arms. It was fine to be touched and kissed, but when it came to…_ other _things, her memory came back and messed with her. Honestly, Andria thought that she would be fine by now, she'd done everything that the therapist said, but apparently it was for naught.

"I find beauty perfection, darling. I see the most beautiful things when I look at you Andria. Your eyes… Your lips… That habit of biting your lip… The way you care so much for people… How you can listen to me for hours and not seem bored… And of course there is the fact that you make the best dessert known to mankind." There was a small 'Ehehe' then. "Plus, there is more beauty in broken things than anything else, because their beauty comes from the fact that they can be mended by the right person." He murmured softly and looked down at her to see her gazing back with her green-hazel eyes.

"Are you the right person?" She whispered softly, looking more vulnerable now than ever as her doe eyes showed that she was giving him the option to just walk away now and leave the crazy frigid girl forever.

Instead of words, his answer was to gently put his fingers under her chin and tilt her up more so he could reach her lips, giving her the sweetest, most gentle and loving kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Andria woke up with her head rested on something warm and firm. It took her a moment to realise that she was not on her pillow as usual and as she opened her eyes, the memories of the night before came flooding back to her.

Looking up, she saw the adorable sleeping face of Tom and blushed softly. She snuggled a little closer into his side and lay her head back down on his bare toned chest, enjoying the gentle rise and fall of his breathing and the slow steady heart beat which was the most soothing sound in her universe apart from his voice.

They had stayed up until the early morning just talking about random things, like her job, his acting, what it was like have the army of Hiddlestoners chasing Tom around cities all over the world. In the end it appeared that Andria had fallen asleep while they were watching TV on the couch and Tom, being the gentleman that he was, had put her to bed. _He mustn't have wanted to leave without saying goodbye…_ Dria thought to herself with a small smile.

As if on cue, Tom stirred as she thought that and his arms tightened around her a little "Mm… Good morning, darling." He said softly and kissed her forehead. "I hope you don't mind me sharing your bed… I was kind of trapped with the way you held onto me." He chuckled softly.

Dria blushed and giggled softly "Sorry about that, but no, I don't mind. You're a very comfortable pillow." She said and yawned softly. Then she thought about it for a moment, was she in her pyjamas? How did that… _OH MY GOD._ "Hey, Tom? Quick question."

"What is it?" He asked as his hand lightly ran up and down her back at a slow leisurely pace.

"What um… happened to my dress?" Instantly Tom's cheeks were flushed scarlet and he stopped moving his hand along her back.

"Well… I didn't want you to ruin that dress by sleeping in it so I, uh, changed your clothing. Ah, but I promise I looked as little as possible, I just couldn't bear to wake you up when you were so peaceful looking. I'm sorry, I overstepped the line Andria." He apologised and looked away embarrassedly. But who could stay mad at that face? Certainly not Dria, that was for sure. Plus, they had ended up drinking a lot of wine in the later hours together so she couldn't judge him for it.

She smiled and kissed his cheek before sitting up in her over-sized pyjamas. "It's fine, as long as you were being considerate, and not just trying to get a perv." Dria giggled softly and Tom went even redder.

"I promise, I didn't want to look at you like that at all. I mean, I do j-just in your own time when it's a mutual thing… I'm going to stop talking now." He said and face palmed. Andria continued to giggle and pulled his hand away from his face so she could kiss his jaw lightly.

"I know what you meant." She winked at him and moved to the edge of the bed to get up. "I'm going to have a shower. If you want, the kettle is on the bench in the kitchen, and tea and stuff is in the pantry." She said as she walked into the hall toward the bathroom, grabbing a towel on the way.

"Okay darling." Tom said and flopped back on the pillows, lying there a little longer as he listened to the sound of the shower turning on.

He stayed in bed for another ten minutes or so until the light through the curtains was in just the wrong spot forcing him to get up. Before heading downstairs, he pulled on his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned. Once in the kitchen, Tom put on the kettle for some tea and found the muffins that Andria had baked, eating one as he waited for her to finish getting ready.

_I still didn't mention having to leave again… I should tell her when she comes down. _Tom sighed heavily and thought of what he should say. He didn't want to wait another month as he had had to the first time. At least he would only be a city away the whole time this time; he had two days to himself before resuming practice for Coriolanus and no longer needed to go out of the country for other commitments all the time. And when the play opened, Tom could bring Andria to watch it. That thought made him happy.

Suddenly, Andria appeared before him and pulled him from his thoughts. She had light makeup on and dressed in dark blue jeans and plain black tank top. Her hair had been blow dried and pulled back into a high ponytail. She looked beautiful as always.

Tom smiled happily seeing her and put his hands on her waist, pulling her close to him and bending down as she went up on tip toes to kiss him lightly. "You look beautiful, darling." He complimented and then remembered what he needed to say, his smile falling ever so slightly, but enough for her to notice.

Andria pouted a little and put her hands on his forearms. "You have to go soon, huh?" She said quietly, knowing it had been too good to be true to expect that he hadn't needed to leave for work.

Tom nodded and hugged her close so that he could lift her and sit her on the bench so that when he stood they were more at eye level. "I'm the lead in Coriolanus, a play that is being performed in London next month. I have to stay there for another month to rehearse, so this was the only time I had to myself where I could come to see you."

She looked down and fidgeted. _Of course he would have to go off to another city right away! I was fooling myself believing that he wasn't just being a good actor and making me think he wanted to be around me for the night ._"It's okay… This was just a visit to make up for waking me up in the middle of the night that time. It's not like I expected to see you again anyways so don't worry about it." She played it off with a fake laugh and pushed him away so she could get down off the bench and grabbed the crumble she had made for him so she could begin forcing Tom toward the door. "You should go; I didn't mean to make you stay over."

"Why are you being like this? I didn't say I wasn't going to see you again, did I?" Tom said, confused by her reaction. Why was she trying to fool an _actor_ of all people? "I have every intention of asking you out again, my darling." He smiled gently and took her free hand, noting the surprise on her face. _How could she have thought anything else? Maybe I wasn't clear enough of my feelings last night…_ "I like you very much, Andria. I don't want this to end just yet."

Andria was like a deer in the head lights at his confession. So him saying that this was the only time he could see her wasn't meaning permanently, as in she just needed to wait a few weeks again? Her eyes remained wide in surprise, but a grin slowly crept onto her lips. _He…wants to ask me out again. This just became the best weekend of my life!_ "You do?" She breathed and took a step closer to him. "Even after I just tried to kick you out?" She said a little sheepishly.

"Even after you just tried to kick me out." He nodded with a small smirk. "You shouldn't try to act the opposite of what you're feeling, especially not around an actor, darling." He pointed out and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I thought I had made it clear how much I enjoyed being around you, but I guess not. I'm sorry if I made you think I was just going through the motions with a poor choice of words."

Dria shook her head "I read too much into it too quickly and assumed the worst. I guess I am still not really used to the idea that _Tom Hiddleston_ likes me." She blushed hard and grinned like an idiot as she said it. "But, I do want to see you again, very much. I don't mind a little waiting."

Tom smiled and lifted her up so he wouldn't need to bend, kissing her deeply. "Good. Because I want you there on opening night, okay? Leave December 6th free." He said as he set her back on her feet. His arms around her didn't move though, keeping her barely two inches from him

"I'll be there." She said and looked at the time remembering there was still her shift at the bakery today. "Damn, I forgot I have to work today…" Dria pouted and sighed softly, not wanting to go but knowing that she had to.

"And I have to get to London I'm afraid. But here," He took out his cell phone. "I'll get your details and you can have mine and then we can keep in touch while I am away." Turning on his phone, he was suddenly bombarded with a dozen missed calls and a hundred texts from his manager.

Andria smiled a little. _He was ignoring his work the whole time so he wouldn't interrupt our date?_ That was ballsy for an actor of his calibre. His manager was not going to be happy when he called back. "Here, I'll do mine, you do yours." She said bringing up her contacts on her phone after grabbing it off the bench and then held it out to him.

Tom traded phones with her and they both input their numbers, emails, and addresses. "For legal privacy reasons I'm required to tell you not to share this info anyone and so on and so forth, but I trust that you won't, darling." He said as they both took back their phones.

"Of course I won't. How could I let you be surrounded by swarms of fan girls if I'm not there to protect you?" Andria joked and smiled widely when she heard his most adorable 'Ehehehe' in reply.

Grinning, he hugged her close. "Indeed, I wouldn't be able to survive the whole of Loki's 'army' chasing me twenty four seven." He kissed her deeply before his phone started ringing loudly with his manager Luke's ringtone. "I've made him worry enough, I should probably answer that." He said and held the phone to his ear as he kept his arm around Dria's waist. "Hello… I know I should've had my phone on… I told you I was going to be busy yesterday ages ago… I'm in the car right now… Yes, I am lying… I'll be on my way in few minutes, I promise… Okay, bye." He sighed softly and ended the call before looking back down at Dria.

"I take it that that was your cue to leave?" She said with a hint of sadness. She began to realise that a month was going to feel like a lot longer than it had last time, now that she would miss his kisses and intimate touch, and of course how he was a great substitute pillow.

"I'm afraid so, my dear." He said and gently caressed her cheek before leaving a soft kiss on her lips. "I'll send you a text when I get there, so you'll know I didn't break down in the middle of the country again." Tom chuckled softly before heading to the door with her, grabbing his jacket from the couch on the way. When they were standing on the step outside the door, Tom leaned in and kissed Andria passionately, but the kiss was short lived as they both knew they had other places to be. "I'll miss you." He said softly against her lips before pulling away.

"I'll miss you too…" She murmured back, enjoying the spark of their kiss while it lasted and then watched him until his Jaguar disappeared from her view. She sad to see him go, but at the same time excited that this wasn't goodbye.


	9. Chapter 9

**-Tom's Afternoon-**

When Tom finally got to his hotel room, he noticed that the door was unlocked and that there were a few voices inside. He frowned a little and went inside, seeing Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch chatting away on his couch. "Hello… How did you get in here?" Tom asked with a smirk. "Charm the girl at the front desk?"

"Well, it was housekeeping actually, but the same basic idea." Robert remarked and got up to great him alongside Ben. "Oh~ you brought us cake?" He said sidling up to the box in Tom's hand.

"Um, no actually, it a crumble, but back to the subject at hand, why are you here?" He asked still surprised to see them both hanging out here. Wandering over to the kitchenette, he sat down the cake box and then hung his jacket on a chair.

Benedict smirked, "Well if you checked your messages you would've known we were here to visit. Robert was in town and thought he might drop by so I accompanied him to see you."

"Oh that's right, I need to text Andria." Tom said, only half listening after hearing he should check his messages as he took out his phone. Sure enough there was the text from the guys that he had missed and the others from his manager. He scrolled his contacts to create a text.

**_Just got in, missing you already. _**

**_-T x_**

Both the other men raised their eyebrows in surprise. "That name sounds familiar." Ben said thinking about it. "It wouldn't happen to be the girl you were telling me about a few weeks ago would it? The one whose house you broke down in front of?"

"The very same." Tom smiled as he set down his phone.

"Uh oh, I know that look. Tom got a girlfriend." Robert smirked and clapped a hand on Tom's shoulder. "So, you nail her yet?" He asked in a rather matter-of-fact tone of voice. Tom rolled his eyes, trust Robert to say that.

"No, I haven't. I just took her on our first date last night." He said and his cheeks flushed a little. Supposing he should give the guys a little more than that, he added: "I did get to see her in her underwear though…. And I got to kiss her a lot." He said with a soft 'ehehe' at the end and rubbed the back of his neck as he got out a knife and some plates to serve the guys some of the apple crumble. He didn't want to share it in the slightest but he wasn't about to be rude to his guests. "She made this for me, you have to try it. It's divine." He said as he offered them each a slice.

"Holy shit, that's good stuff. Is she a baker?" Robert said, and Benedict hummed in agreement as he ate a bite.

Tom nodded, "She is actually, in a little bakery in a town called Greywood." He recalled from their conversation last night. Apparently she had been working on a few wedding cakes recently but she preferred to make desserts and smaller cakes.

"Perfect for you and your sweet tooth, ay Tom?" Ben teased and finished off his piece not long after the other two.

"Yeah, she is perfect…" Tom mumbled aloud without realising, causing the guys to raise their eyebrows again.

"Oh dear, he has it bad." Benedict said.

"Yup." Robert replied.

"Wanna go check out the 'perfect' girl tomorrow?"

"I'm in."

Tom watched them and sighed softly, "I feel like the last thing she needs is _more_ celebrities turning up on her doorstep unannounced…" He reminded them but it seemed to fall on deaf ears as they planned their trip. Although he doubted that they would actually get up go road tripping, so he left them to it.

After sitting down on the sofa, Tom started absent-mindedly flicking through channels until he was interrupted by his phone buzzing.

**_Glad you didn't get stampeded by fans._**

**_It's going to be a loooong few weeks._**

**_-A x_**

He chuckled quietly to himself and began typing a reply, only to have his phone taken by Robert. "Hey!" Tom said in surprise as his phone disappeared from his hands. "Don't send anything without showing me!" He said as he worriedly watched the two others conspiring over the keyboard. After a minute or two, the cell was tossed back into Tom's lap and he read it. "Why does it say 'Delivered'?"

"You said I had to show you if I wanted to send it, not my fault you didn't define if you meant before or after the fact." Robert smirked. Oh how he loved to be a smart ass.

With a huff Tom opened the folder to read the text he had sent from Tom's phone.

**_Hey bby gurl, I bn thinkn bout u nd ur rockin bod all aftrnoon ;P_**

**_My frnds r gunna come c u tomoz ur bakery_**

With a groan Tom began typing an apology, saying what he was writing aloud to make a point to Rob and Benendict. "I am sorry about that, darling. My stupid friends Robert and Benedict were being immature and stole my phone. They must have fought autocorrect so much to write that that I am almost impressed with how completely they butchered the English language, however, please don't mind their nonsense-" He continued typing his extremely long apology text but stopped talking aloud so as not to be embarrassed.

**_-Although they did get one thing right, I have been thinking about you the whole time since I left. I know what you mean about it being 'a loooong few weeks.'_**

**_-T xx_**

"Hey, I'm not immature. I was just having fun!" Robert said while Benedict just smirked and snickered softly. "Stop laughing, he called you immature too." He said pointedly to Ben which just made them begin bickering to which Tom gave them a 'Guys, come on. You're acting like little kids' look.

Sometimes he had to wonder about what went through those two's heads… Eventually he gave up trying to talk to them since it seemed that ever since bringing up Andria into the conversation it had just become a flurry of innuendo and childish antics. He didn't particularly mind though. It was nice to see them both after being away for a while and he knew this was just what happened when any of them were together for a long enough period of time.

His phone went again just as he was about to head out to rehearsal but he didn't have time to check it as much as he wanted to, so he had to wait until a few hours had gone past before he could speak to Andria again. After reading what she had written, Tom thought it was probably a good idea that he didn't have her words distracting him earlier.

**_It's going to be strange using a normal pillow tonight, you're so much better ;)_**

**_-A xox_**

_Oh my, what do I say to that? I want to call her… would she mind? It's late, but not _that_ late…_ He told himself as he lay back on his bed and held up his phone to his ear after pressing the call button.

-**Andria's afternoon**-

Andria was just getting home from work when she turned on her phone to see if she had received a text from Tom. She already had a grin plastered on her face just from seeing the sender ID on the screen. Excitedly, she opened the message:

**_Just got in, missing you already. _**

**_-T x_**

Dria giggled softly and felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she read. As if her life couldn't have gotten any better, now Tom was being adorable even when he wasn't with her. She quickly typed back her response.

**_Glad you didn't get stampeded by fans._**

**_It's going to be a loooong few weeks._**

**_-A x_**

She hit send and waited patiently as she sat down on her couch to watch some TV before having to make dinner. It had been a long afternoon at work; after getting the third degree from her best –only- friend who worked with her about the whole Tom incident and having to get a cupcake platter baked and decorated at short notice, Dria was exhausted. After having suffered the over analysis of everything that happened (minus, of course, the part where Tom changed her out of her dress) Andria had begun to regret sharing the news of her date with the only person she really talked to besides Tom now.

After another few minutes she heard her phone vibrate on the table and picked up, opening the message to see the most unbelievably out-of-character message ever. Had Tom had his phone stolen or something? Was she meant to believe that this seriously Tom?

**_Hey bby gurl, I bn thinkn bout u nd ur rockin bod all aftrnoon ;P_**

**_My frnds r gunna come c u tomoz ur bakery_**

_Really? What am I looking at? Nope, there is no way Tom would willingly skip over this many letters…_ Dria thought to herself as she tried to work out how to reply to something so strange. Just as she was finally coming up with something, her phone buzzed again and there was a text that was half way to becoming a letter from Tom in fully-fledged English.

**_I am sorry about that, darling. My stupid friends Robert and Benedict were being immature and stole my phone. They must have fought autocorrect so much to write that that I am almost impressed with how completely they butchered the English language, however, please don't mind their nonsense …Although they did get one thing right, I have been thinking about you the whole time since I left. I know what you mean about it being 'a loooong few weeks.'_**

**_-T xx_**

Andria grinned and sent one more text before getting up to make dinner.

**_It's going to be strange using a normal pillow tonight, you're so much better ;)_**

**_-A xox_**

She kept checking her phone for the rest of the evening but only as she was about to turn out the light beside her bed, her phone rang. She answered it after only two rings and said with a silly love-struck smile, "Hello?"

"Hello darling, I hope you'll excuse the lateness of my call." Tom's smooth silky voice sounded a little rougher than usual after hours of going through line after line after line. He was a little worried that he may have interrupted her sleep. _Wouldn't be the first time._ He mused.

"Oh, no! It's really okay, what's up?" She said happily and curled up under the covers to stay warm as it got colder with the night. After the long day, it was the best thing to hear his voice. _We totally aren't moving too fast… And wanting to talk to each other after only leaving about 12 hours ago is normal._ Dria told herself as she tried to reason with how quickly things had gone these past two days. Although she supposed they did have to cram in enough to make up for not seeing one another for a whole month…

"Nothing really. I just didn't get a chance to reply to your message until now… I guess it made me want to hear your voice." Tom said with his classic 'Ehehe' quietly tacking onto the end of the sentence. This made Andria go so red that a tomato would have cause to envy her, and the sweet chit-chat of the new lovers continued on like this for another hour before either realised the time and that they had to get some semblance of sleep before the morning. 

* * *

**A/N: Hey! It's Panda here again. I just wanted to let you guys know that I am sorry that this chapter took so long after I was being so good with my updating times . I have officially finished my first week of Uni lectures and it has really taken it out of me (Not to mention I had my birthday as well) so unfortunately even though it was just filler and set up for more of the story line, I am afraid this is all I can give you for now, my darlings. Don't worry though, I am using all my free time away from school and lectures (Which isn't a lot, but still) to work on this for you guys. I wasn't entirely happy with this chapter but it needed to get done so I did my best despite writers block and I apologise for the terrible writing . It will get better! *Whispers* I hope T^T**


	10. Chapter 10

Andria hummed softly to the music as she worked on some pastry dough for the afternoon rush. It was warm in the bakery from the ovens, which made it busier due to the cold winter air forcing people inside. Despite all the people in the bakery, her best friend and colleague, Alex, was blasting AC/DC from the stereo in the work area behind the counter. Sometimes Dria was driven mad by hearing the blaring music but she knew she wouldn't change a thing about her best buddy.

Alex had blonde with icy blonde streaked hair that fell just at her shoulder blades, though she almost always wore it tied up unlike Andria, she had light blue eyes with sapphire flecks, and when Andria stood beside her in heels, she still only reached Alex's shoulder. Alex was introverted like Dria when given the chance, but she tended to be less shy than Dria in social situations, so it was no surprise when she greeted the next customers in her chipper voice as she finished writing up a custom order.

"Hello, welcome to Shake 'n' Bake, how may I... H… el... Help… you… ANDRIA~!" She practically screamed as she saw who was standing before her. Alex rubbed her eyes just to check she wasn't imagining things. _Holy shit. Thank god I wore makeup! Okay…fuck. What do I say?! Okay. Okay. …Okay. Something… say something…now. Now. ….No-_

"Uh, um, hi! I'm Andria. I'll take over from here. Alex, can you go pipe the éclairs?" Dria said. Surprised by herself as she saved her friend from what seemed to be an internal monologue of 'What the hell do I do', she had to think extra hard of how exactly to deal with this situation. Why were two world famous actors standing in a little bakery in Greywood of all places?

"Hey, Benny, this is her!" Robert elbowed Benedict lightly. They both grinned and Andria recalled the strange text from yesterday. So_ this_ is what it meant when it said Tom's friends were coming here… "Well, I can see what Tom was on about, you really are quite something." Robert said as he appraised her.

"Um… thank you." Dria said, blushing softly. "Are you the ones who sent that text yesterday afternoon?" She asked and fidgeted with the hem of her apron. Why were Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch here?! And why weren't people freaking out? Greywood wasn't _that_ isolated… was it? _Nah…_

"Indeed we were. Tom was not pleased with us." Ben laughed softly and rubbed the back of his neck, "But we figured since he so rarely takes an interest in a girl like this, and since we both had a free day, why not check out the girl who has so quickly captured our dear friend?" He grinned and looked over at the array of cakes and other sweet treats in the display cases. "Plus, that crumble you baked was divine –Tom let us have a small bit. He didn't seem keen on sharing since it was that good." They both chuckled then, and Dria joined in as well.

Alex was watching the scene from the other counter as she had just put out a special themed display of cakes. This was a something she did every Monday as something to make the bakery a little more fun. This week there was a set of Avengers cakes with a symbol for each of the six on their own cake. _How fitting,_ she though as she watched Robert and Benedict chat away, _I'm definitely psychic. I wonder if he'll notice…_ Alex looked at Robert who she happily noted was looking intently at the Iron man cake. He wandered over, leaving Ben to discuss what he should get with Dria.

"Did you do these?" He asked as he pointed to the colourful row of cakes.

"Mm hm. It's this week's theme. Perefect timing, huh?" She said with a small smile as she looked up at him nervously, hoping he liked them.

"How much for the lot? It just so happens I am meeting up with the crew this evening and this is perfect." He said as he pulled out his wallet, but Alex waved it away. It was enough just to have the knowledge that Robert Downey Jr, _Iron Man_,wanted the lot. She was over the moon with delight.

"Oh you can have just have them! I mean, as long as you mention we are the best bakery in the business in your next interview or something." Alex joked, as she packaged up all the cakes in boxes and placed them in a bag for him. "I hope you like them; each one is a different flavour. I think the Iron Man one is red velvet." She said as she handed them over.

"Sounds great, um…?" Robert said as he took the bag and looked at her name tag to find it was currently splattered with hardened icing.

It took her a moment to realise she hadn't introduced herself and her tag was out of commission currently. "Oh, it's Alex." She said with a smile and waved as he walked off with Ben after he had finished his business with Andria before returning to her icing of the éclairs.

"So… How was that for a Monday? _Hmm…_?" Andria said winking as Alex looked up at her with a grin. "Too bad that Robert is married, huh?" She sighed softly.

Alex pouted. "He is? Awww… I thought I might have had the slightest of shots just then, like you and Tom. Alas, 'tis not so~!" Alex said the last part in an overly dramatic voice and then giggled with Dria before going to put out the tray of éclairs.

"I heard from Benedict that apparently Robert has been looking to hook up his mate Chris –the one who played Captain America- with someone recently, maybe you're in the running?" Andria suggested with a light shrug before returning to her work intently.

"Doubt it…" Alex murmured before also returning to her station as more people flooded into the bakery for afternoon tea.

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**A/N: Hey! I know that this chapter isn't centred around Andria so much as her best friend, but that is because I thought it would be nice to let my real life best friend get in on the fanfic action a little bit! Plus, now if something is lulling in one story i.e. Tom and Dria having to be apart for a while, then it gives me (and you) something else to look forward to other than a huge long spiel of boring filler ^_^ **


	11. Chapter 11

"I'm telling you man, I swear I've got her this time. Promise!" Robert said, sitting in front of Chris with his right hand over his heart like he was making an oath. They were sitting in one of the booths around the edge of the club that the meeting Robert had mentioned earlier was taking place, and Rob was desperately trying to convince Chris that he had actually made a good choice this time.

As per usual, there was obvious scepticism on Chris' face as Rob waited for a response, but all Robert really got was a raised eyebrow and a 'You're seriously trying this again?' face.

"Come on… Will you at least meet her? I brought you a present." Rob argued with Chris' silence. That guy needed to get laid, seriously, but he was too much of a gentleman for a one night stand so here was Robert, trying to help out his co-star and buddy. He was such a good friend. Sometimes he himself didn't know how he did it.

When Chris went to take the box from Robert, it was quickly rescinded. "Uh, uh, uh. You're not getting a crumb until you promise that you'll check her out." Robert said and scanned the room while Chris contemplated the merits of meeting this girl that his friend had spent the last half hour on at him about.

Tom wasn't there since it was an Avengers: Age of Ultron cast party (no doubt he was busy with Coriolanus) but Mark was chilling with Scarlett and Samuel at the bar, and Chris H. and Jeremy were dancing surrounded by a sea of people on the floor in the centre of the club. Everyone else seemed perfectly content, but Chris Evans always seemed a little out of place at these things. Robert figured it all had to be because he didn't know how to go out and have fun, so he should take him under his wing. Although this tactic hadn't been working the best as of late, he knew he just needed one more shot.

"_Alright…_ I suppose I will. But this is the last time dude." Chris sighed heavily and snatched the box from him while Robert was looking away. "Where do you find this?" He smirked as he looked and Captain America shield that was iced on top of the cake. It looked amazing, and smelt amazing too.

Robert looked triumphantly at him. "Alex made it. You're lucky that it survived at all to make it here. I had some of my one at home and… well… there were some casualties. Five of them to be exact."

"I'm guessing it was a set?" Chris asked as he closed the lid on the box carefully so as not to mush it. Maybe this girl wouldn't be so bad. _Tony seemed more sure about her than the others so maybe I will actually trust his judgement just this once…_

"Emphasis on the '_was'_." Rob said and grinned sheepishly. "I'll text you tomorrow if you want to meet Alex for real." He said before heading off to find his wife on the floor.

_What have I just gotten myself into?_ Chris thought to himself before downing his drink and turning in for the night at his hotel.

The next day Chris woke up to the ringing of his phone but didn't answer in time, instead receiving a decidedly hung-over voice message left for him by Robert. He put the phone on speaker, too tired to concentrate on holding it up to his head as he stared groggily up at the plain cream ceiling of his suite. Robert's lazy tone drifted through the room and Chris sighed, _of course_ he would make sure to remind him of the deal they made last night as soon as he was up and running the next morning…

"Morning, Sunshine. Just thought I would give tell you where to find your soul mate whom I –being as awesome and helpful and generous and all around amazing person that I am- found for you. She works at Shake 'n' Bake in Greywood. It's a town in the middle of nowhere but hey, I'm sure you'll find it if the GPS doesn't cut out from a loss of satellite reception." Robert said before the message cut out and Chris rolled his eyes a little. Some people were just a little too overly dramatic sometimes.

Forcing himself out of bed despite the chilling winter air, Chris moved to the bathroom to take a shower before throwing on some clean clothes and sitting down to some breakfast. He had to admit, it had been a while since he had had someone to converse with over breakfast and he kind of missed it. It would be nice to have someone to wake up to each morning instead of just the constant changing of hotel scenery.

_I guess this means I'm going to Greywood, doesn't it?_ He thought to himself as he found a black leather jacket to shrug on, along with his keys, phone, and wallet and then headed out the door.

Andria and Alex were preparing for the lunchtime rush when the little bell signalling a customer rang rather unexpectedly, making both of the girls jump. There was hardly ever anyone there at that time, not to mention it had also been a slow day. Alex returned to fixing up a display while Andria went out front to serve the customer.

Halfway out to the front, Dria caught a glimpse of him and grinned wickedly, no way was Alex going to miss out on this one! "Oh Alex, there goes the timer for the croissants. Can you handle this one for me?" She called in a singsong voice and practically pushed her best friend into the front of the bakery.

"Hm? What timer? I didn't- okay, okay, okay, I'm going!" Alex said as she protested being shoved out to the counter. Once left to be, she smoothed down her apron and put on her customer-greeting face. "Hello and…" _Again? SERIOUSLY?! How many gorgeous famous men must grace our little town in the space of three days? For fuck's sake… _"Er.. Welcome to Shake 'n' Bake. Anything catching your eye?" Alex asked as she watched the one and only Chris Evans look over the displays and then back up to her as she spoke.

He gave her a small smile and leaned on the counter. "Maybe." He said softly and smiled wider. _There, that was flirting, wasn't it? Nailed it. Definitely._ He thought to himself as he looked into the most perfect icy blue eyes he'd ever seen.

On cue, a light shade of pink arose in Alex's cheeks and she grinned back at him. "Oh really?" She mimicked his position and rested her forearms on the counter as well so that she now had to look up a little at him.

"Mm hm. Would pick up at seven be okay?" He asked with a slight smirk as he leaned a little closer, loving the way it brought an even deeper red colour to her porcelain skin. _Okay, I am so not awkward right now… am I? What if she is just overly friendly? Or maybe I'm coming on to strong and she is going to be weirded out…_

It took a moment for Alex to process what he was suggesting before she nodded enthusiastically. "Y-Yeah! Seven is fine. Seven is perfect actually!" She said quickly and giggled shyly.

"Perfect. I'll see you later then." Chris said softly and held her hand to his lips lightly, thinking of how Tom always had women falling all over him whenever he did that. Looks like it worked as Alex looked as if her heart had stopped momentairily.

"See you…" Alex mumbled as she watched him walk away. What was that expression? Hate to see you go, love to watch you leave. It was rather fitting in this moment, she thought.

Dria glanced around the corner and grinned widely, if that wasn't the perfect couple right there, then she didn't know what was. Half a minute together and they were already dropping hints at each other that were more obvious than Chris' abs through that tight white shirt of his. _Looks like what Benedict said about Robert playing match maker was true…_

* * *

**A/N: It's me Panda here. Well there's the next chapter up ^_^ I know it's not great, but sometimes these things happen . I have only got today to write so whether or not there will be another update before next week I can't promise, but now that the next part of the plot is fully set we can get this show back on the road! Woohoo~ Anyways… I don't really know what to write after that, so… Do any of you actually read this bit? Just Curious :P Oh yeah, I would've written sooner but Uni life is hectic in more ways than one right now so I apologise to all my loyal readers for the waits you have suffered. *Huggles* **

**Panda, out.**


	12. Chapter 12

A few hours later, Andria sent Alex home early to get ready for her surprise date and was solely manning the bakery by herself. Suddenly her phone buzzed and Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" began playing. She grinned in excitement as this had become her new personalised ringtone for Tom after Alex had linked a certain video to her yesterday. Dria hadn't heard from Tom all of yesterday because his day had been jam-packed with rehearsals and press things and had been afraid that today might be more of the same.

"Hello~!" She practically sang as she skilfully sandwiched her phone between her shoulder and her ear while she kneaded some bread dough –It was something one kind of had to perfect in her line of work where demand was high and helping hands were a valuable resource.

"Hello. How is your day going, darling?" Tom's smooth silky voice washed over her through the line and made that silly love-struck grin even wider on Dria's face. It was the perfect time for him to ring really, what with all that had just gone down these two days.

"Very well, now that I'm talking with you." Dria giggled softly and went slightly red as she realised what a major walking talking cliché she was. "How about you? Is the play preparation going well?" She asked, hoping it was so that they wouldn't decide to postpone the opening night; it was already still such a long wait.

"Yes, very well indeed. Speaking of Coriolanus, I just found out that an out of town meeting I had for the days of my Christmas break between shows was cancelled so now I have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day free, and so I thought that perhaps, if it's not any trouble and if you don't already have any plans… You would spend that time with me?" Tom was a little worried as he wondered if Dria might think spending Christmas together instead of with their families was going a little too fast, be he hoped that she would accept. Originally, Tom would have been travelling back to London on Christmas Eve night and have had to spend Christmas catching up on rest all by himself so he was already happy just to have a nice break on a Public Holiday, but having Dria there would make it perfect.

Andria's cheeks went from a rosy pink to deep scarlet. "In London? With you? …I'd love to!" She had to stop herself from doing a power jump of excitement as answered him. _Christmas with the one and only Tom Hiddleston? How many girls have dreamt of this?!_ She thought and then it hit her: _What do I give the man who has everything and asks for nothing? _She face palmed, leaving a floury print on her left cheek.

"Excellent! I'm looking forward to it already, my darling." Tom purred and the tone sent a slight shiver down Dria's spine. "So," He said after a moment, "Tell me, did my friends make good on their promise to drop in on you?" He asked, not yet having had a chance to catch up with them himself.

This tore Andria from her contemplation over presents and she remembered she was still meant to be an active participant in this conversation instead of just listening to Tom's voice. "Why yes. In fact, it's been rather busy at the bakery these last two days, you won't believe who just showed up –well actually" She giggled softly, "I suppose you might."

At that point Andria launched into her story of the celebrity visits of the last two days while Tom listened quietly on the other end of the line. He wondered if Andria knew that he loved listening to her talk as much as he knew she did to him. _Probably not,_ Tom mused. _She doesn't seem to understand how perfect she is._ If only Dria could hear these thoughts right now, she would've sworn he had them switched around.

"Hold on," Tom said after a while as Andria had moved on to the Chris Evans topic. "So you're telling me that Robert was actually spot on this time? Wow. I never thought he would actually be successful with that little plan of his to set Chris up."

"Believe me; they took to each other like ducks to water. It was kind of adorable to watch. And Chris is _hot_." She giggled as she could almost hear Tom's pouting face through the phone. "But totally not my type –I like my men tall, British, and banging on my door in the middle of the night." Dria said jokingly and then sighted softly. "There's not a chance of you turning up on my doorstep before the 6th, is there?" She said hopefully.

Tom sighed and ran his hand through his hair, looking over at the other players practicing a scene he wasn't in and then looked back out of the window he was beside. "I'm afraid not, Andria darling. But, I thought maybe we could have a Skype tonight? I'm working day but I have a break this evening. I would come and see you but I don't have time to drive back before my early start the next day."

"Sounds great." She agreed as she began laying out the dough she was working into small loaves. "What time?"

"Does eight thirty suit you, sweetheart?" He asked. It would be nice to see her -the knowledge that she was so far away made short hours seem long and it felt like it had been forever since he had held her small frame in his arms. The fact that he couldn't do that made his desire to do so even stronger.

Those pet names he used so often always made her heart flutter and Dria loved it. He was just such a gentleman! "It suits me perfectly. Text me your name when you're online and I will be there." Andria said and smiled. "I need to go now, Tom. I l-uh I'll see you tonight." _Holy shit, what was that?! I let my warm fuzzy feelings get in the way of my words… _Andria inwardly cringed. Luckily, she thought the 'L' sound was cut off quickly enough that it just sounded like she was failing at saying 'I'll'. She couldn't let herself say it. She wouldn't.

It wasn't. Tom could already understand how she spoke well enough to hear her faux pas but he would not call her out on it. It was probably just an easy slip of the tongue and didn't mean much more than an 'I like-like you'. He knew people threw the word 'love' around easily in this day and age though outside press conferences and interviews he tended to reserve it for very special people in his life. "Yes, see you tonight. Have a good rest of the day." He said sincerely and hung up after they wished each other goodbye.

It was moments like that which made Andria realise how little she had actually told Tom about herself. Sighing heavily, she rested her hands on the floury bench top after putting the bread in the oven. _How long are you going to keep this up? One day he's going to ask out of curiosity if nothing else._ She told herself. _And what if he asked Alex? She isn't the best liar. One day he's going to know._ Andria groaned softly and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. _I'll wait until after Christmas. I don't want him to dump me after realising how unfixable I am and taint the holidays..._

* * *

**A/N: Hey! So, I had about three hours free at the end of the weekend and this is what has come from that time. I wanted to be able to give you just a little something more than that one chapter for the week. **

**I know that a lot of people are used to things happening quickly in stories like this but I am trying to make a middle ground where the timeline is realistic while keeping in all the bits of love stories that people want to see. Plus, I think in order to have the effect that Dria's past will have on her and Toms relationship be believable, it needs time to build instead of "Here's a backstory and suddenly it's relevant to them and has a deep impact even though they've been in a relationship for exactly five minutes" which I feel that a fair few stories end up having whether it was on purpose or not. **

**Okay, didn't mean this to be a rant but I feel like it reads like it is . Know that it's not though, my Delinquents, (Yes I have named you fans of this story now :P) and that I love you all! I hope you are all enjoying this story as I don't intend to give it up very soon since I have grown attached to my those of you who _do_ actually read these little snippets at the end, I thought I might start asking, I don't know, a kind of 'Question Of The Update' if you will. For today:**

_How long do you think that Dria's quiet little town of Greywood is going to remain quiet? Because celebrity drop-ins like those in recent chapters can't go unnoticed by everyone right?_

**Anyways, Panda out.**


	13. Chapter 13

"So, you're here on holiday while they're in post-production on Winter Soldier?" Alex asked as she sipped her wine. They had already been talking for over an hour and a half –Chris' life was just so interesting! He was pretty modest about it all but Alex kept coming up with all these questions to try and understand what living with fame was like. Sure, he asked her about herself too, but Alex maintained that there really wasn't much more to her life than exactly what he had seen at the bakery earlier.

Chris smiled that charming boy-next-door smile and nodded. "Yeah, well I was, I'm going back home in three days for a family reunion." He said and the edges of his smile fell just ever so slightly.

In the pit of her stomach, Alex felt a small twist at his words. _If he was going back in a few days, why bother with this date? Maybe he's just looking for a girl to nail while he's abroad…_

After a short pause, just enough for him to notice the cogs turning in her head at his statement, he continued on. "But, I think I will be back afterwards though. I have found I quite enjoy it here, even if California is a little warmer…"

The chipper smiles that both had been wearing almost all evening returned and Alex let out a soft giggle at how quickly she had over thought the situation. _I told Dria to believe Tom wasn't just fooling around because he was an actor, when I was about to ignore my own advice? I should just enjoy this – I mean, this is probably going to be a once in a lifetime shot. _Alex thought to herself as they sat in comfortable silence just looking at each other, committing each other's faces to memory.

"You have the most beautiful eyes." Chris murmured softly as he admired her, turning slightly pink as soon as he realised what a cheese-ball he was being in saying it like that. It seemed like Alex was flattered despite the fact that Chris was mentally berating himself for not thinking of a better line. He was an actor for Christ's sake; he dealt with romantic lines and the like that all the time. It just seemed that the clichés might have worn off on him too.

Alex looked away shyly as she went bright scarlet which was, thankfully, a little dulled by the muted light of the restaurant. Chris had taken her to the most expensive place in town. It was a quiet little restaurant with a view of the lake and their table was on a balcony over banging the water's edge. The view was the most romantic thing you could imagine, silver moonlight, water so calm that it was difficult to tell where the sky ended and the lake began from the way it reflected the stars. He really knew how to woo a girl. Was that even a word people still used? Alex's mind began rambling to stop her feeling embarrassed.

When he saw that she was, Chris reached across the table and gently laced is fingers through hers. Her fingers fit the spaces between his perfectly. Perfect was apparently the adjective of the night tonight, as it seemed like the only way either knew how to describe each other.

She grinned as she looked down at their joined hands and he gave her hand the gentlest squeeze, bringing her gaze back to his. "Want to get out of here?" He asked her softly, realising how late it was after tearing himself from his reverie.

Alex ignored her consciousness screaming that there could totally be a hidden meaning behind 'Getting out of here' because this wasn't just another teen movie. Chris was a gentleman, and that meant he would wait for her to offer, right? "Yeah, my house isn't far from here. It's just a block over."

"Excellent. Let's get you home then." Chris said and paid the bill before standing and taking her hand once more as they walked out toward the car. Alex looked over her shoulder briefly at the balcony as they exited the restaurant; she thought she may have just found her new favourite place.

Once they had arrived at her door, Alex got out and walked close beside Chris. She had spent the short ride home contemplating whether or not she should invite him in but decided to just go with her gut in the moment, which now seemed like a bad idea as she was still internalising her freak out. If she did, what would happen? Well she _knew_ what would happen, but would he think less of her? No, the man obviously liked her, which meant that statistically speaking he should have thought about having sex with her at least once by now surely. _Gah! I'm just going to go for it._ She thought and unlocked the door. "Want to come in?" She offered quietly.

Telling that Alex was nervous, he gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. "If that's okay." He said matching her tone. _What's she worried about? I'm not going to force her into anything… Maybe I've still managed to come on too strong?_ Now he was getting nervous too as he followed her inside.

Her apartment wasn't very big, but she had it furnished to maximise the space. Most of the place was white with black and red accents and everything was made to look retro. Considering her pay bracket, she'd actually done quite well. As Alex went into the kitchen, she offered Chris a drink which he happily accepted. She brought out the two glasses and a new bottle of wine figuring that it would ease the slowly building tension.

Sitting down, she poured them both a full glass, not thinking of the fact that it would mean neither of them would be able to drive afterward. After quickly drinking a quarter of the glass, Alex began to feel much more at ease and even turned on some music at a low volume. Chris watched her curiously as he began to notice the slight shift in her demeanour and then in the mood. Suddenly it was feeling a lot more romantic in here.

"Alex, I…" What should he say? He was getting distracted looking at her golden tresses, the way they framed her face, fell on her shoulders… His eyes travelled slowly over her whole frame, examining every part of her. He had had just that bit too much to drink apparently, because all of his inhibitions he would normally have about so freely mentally undressing a woman when she was right there looking at him had vanished. His eyes returned to hers, and the ice that was her blue eyes seemed to melt as she was swept up with him in the heat of the moment.

Chris found himself with his hands on her hips as her arms snaked around his shoulders and after hesitating for only a heartbeat, he claimed her lips with his own, in the gentlest yet passionate kiss Alex had ever had. She hummed softly as she returned his kiss, shifting so that she was more comfortably in his lap with her legs on either side of his. His fingers twisted slowly in her hair, pulling their faces more firmly together and deepening the kiss. The tip of Chris' tongue ran over her lower lip lightly, asking for entry which she willingly gave, letting their tongues move together as he slowly stood up and held her up by her thighs as she wrapped her legs around him.

"Mmh… Bedroom?" Chris asked in a deep husky voice that sent a pleasurable shiver down Alex's spine. She pointed to a half open door before keeping her lips at his neck and jaw as he took her over to the edge of the bed.

Laying her down gently, Chris pulled off his shirt and slowly peeled her out of her dress. Alex bit her lip and blushed softly, lying before the most gorgeous man in nothing but her best lacy lingerie was a little intimidating but the look of lust in his eyes told her that he liked what he saw.

"So beautiful…" He murmured against her skin as he began to cover her pale flesh with soft warm kisses while his hands worked on taking off what little remained covering her form. Wherever he kissed raised goose bumps on her skin and she moaned ever so softly as his hands roamed her now completely bare body. She could feel his hands getting lower and lower and soon they were just above her knees, with his thumbs slowly tracing up her inner thighs, making her frame quiver in anticipation.

Her hands made surprisingly quick work of his belt and the zipper of his pants considering she was now more than a little intoxicated and his dark jeans fell to the floor. He growled softly and Alex thought that it was the sexiest thing she may have ever heard in her entire life as he held himself over her, moving his lips more roughly against her, his passion now in full control. He was so dominating which was kind of unexpected since he was such a sweetheart but Alex loved it. She moved her hands inside of his boxers' waistline and followed the V his muscles made with her fingertips, making him shiver.

His boxers vanished and she finally managed to get in a good view of his gloriously rocking body. _Holy shit… I mean… HOLY SHIT…_ She thought as she looked back up into his eyes, they were burning with desire which was reflected in her own. "I…" There was no need to finish her sentence because only a few moments and a foil packet later he was one with her and she cried out in pure unadulterated ecstasy. Their bodies moved together like they were made for each other, instinctively knowing how treat the other in all the right ways.

Chris knew he had never ever met a woman like Alex. Everything today seemed too good to be true as he gazed adoringly down at her as they remained in passionate embrace. How did such a perfect partner for him actually exist? This was why, when he had left it to chance, his holiday had brought him to England. This was where he was meant to be.

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**A/N: Hello my darling Delinquents. So, sex scene… What do you think? I wanted there to be enough that it was descriptive but not super-smut. Did I toe the line right? Or do you want more or less graphic? Because I can do either but… Well anyways, 'Question of the Update':**

What do you think Andria and Tom are up to on their Skype date?

**Panda, out.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, so this is not a chapter I'm afraid, but an added note to the last chapter to make sure that people understand that I'm not going into puppy love overload. Chris and Alex are together and yes they are doing it on the first date, however, I want to just explain that there is a huge BUT tacked onto that statement. Only I and one other know what is going to happen next but just know that smooth sailing is not in my nature... **

**Panda, out. ;3**


	15. Chapter 15

Andria left the bakery soon after Alex had been picked up by Chris. Their cheesy grins made Dria wonder if that was what she and Tom had looked like. It was good to see Alex finally finding a date, since guys were few and far between in their little town and she had failed to find a steady guy since Dria had met her. When Andria moved here two years ago, she chose the place for its low population though she could see how that would be detrimental to someone looking for a relationship like most her age were if they weren't already engaged or married. Times like this she almost wished she had decided on London, that way she wouldn't be headed off to a Skype date, but a real one instead. But then, Andria reasoned, she wouldn't have Alex and that would be a lot worse.

As she turned on the laptop and made herself some tea, Andria hoped that some work hadn't come up. There were no texts from Tom that were indicative of that, but she knew that it was quite a possibility considering his line of work. After another minute, the sound of the Skype bubble alerted her that it was ready and she sat down on the couch with the laptop resting on her crossed legs as she logged in and saw that Tom was waiting for her already online. She pressed the call button and was not made to wait long as he picked up almost immediately.

Tom's cheery smile, the one where his tongue was just a little visible through his teeth, appeared on her screen and Andria grinned back at him. "Good evening, darling." He said making her grin even wider, god how she loved it when he called her that. He was still in a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, having not gotten changed since he came home from work.

Andria, on the other hand, was already in her flannel winter jammies. They may or may not have had 'Always kneel to Loki' written on them with little helmets and sceptres dotted around, which was semi-embarrassing but hey, they were so snuggly and it was cold tonight. "Hey~" Andria sang happily and shuffled a bit so the angle on her screen was better. "How was rehearsal today? Do anything fun?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yes actually, I started work on the sword fighting scenes today. It was pretty cool, but my back hurts a bit now…" He said, referring to the flip he has to perform in the first half of the play, but Tom didn't want to spoil it for when she came to see the opening night. He smirked as he studied her more closely on the screen. "Do those pyjamas have what I think they have on them?" He asked with a soft 'eheheh' as he read the print.

Flushing, Dria looked down and fidgeted with the edge, a shy little grin on her face which Tom thought was absolutely adorable. "Mayyyyybe. They're so cuddly, plus, Alex gave me them for my birthday last month, so I have to wear them at least a few times." She said, trying not to appear like a super-fan-girl.

Chuckling softly, Tom shook his head and then realised, "Wait, I missed your birthday sweetheart?" He said with a slight furrow of his brow. If it was last month then he had only barely missed it in the window between their first meeting and their date. How could he have had such imperfect timing?

Andria nodded once and shrugged. "I can't say I really celebrate it since it's just my best friend and I here, but Alex insisted on the present anyways."

"As I am, too. What would you like darling? I can't believe that in the four weeks I was away I missed celebrating with you." Tom said with a gentle smile, though he was surprised to see Dria was not so pleased with the idea. _Maybe she feels like I'm not close enough to her to warrant a gift? She said that her best friend had to insist, what about her boyfriend? Wait, am I her boyfriend? I can't say that we've clearly defined whatever this is so maybe she feels awkward about a gift when she doesn't know what we are… _Bang on, Tom. Andria wasn't one for receiving gifts, even if she loved to give them.

"It's really fine Tom. It's nothing major so don't worry about it, I don't need anything." She said softly and gave him a reassuring smile. Things like the flowers he sent her last week were different as that was a romantic gesture and she had not expected it, but the idea of getting presents just for putting your mum through excruciating pain years ago never really made sense to her. What was the point of getting presents from people because they felt obligated to since you happened to be born one day?

"As your boyfriend I should really be showering you with gifts every day, but if you really insist… I won't get you a birthday present." Tom said and grinned. He wasn't going to get her a _birthday_ present. It seemed he had distracted her with the 'boyfriend' bomb anyway, so the point was now moot.

"Boyfriend?" She said, though her grin indicated that she was delightfully surprised by his choice of words. Inside her head, Dria was cartwheeling and singing. _Tom is my boyfriend~ Tom Hiddleston is _my _boyfriend~ I am his girlfriend then… Oh my god! If the Hiddles-Sisters find out… Who cares! No one will find me out here, I already know that!._

"Is it okay to think of you as my girlfriend?" He asked, hoping she wasn't just being nice and letting his presumption down easy. He knew she liked him, hell she'd almost slipped the 'L' word today on the phone –sure he just shrugged it off as one of those things everyone said today, but it still happened- but even with that reassurance, he couldn't know how fast she was willing to move in this relationship.

Andria loved the face he made when he was worried –which sounds really bad, but to her it was adorable when he looked insecure since he was just so confident all the time which just added to his sexiness... and what was she talking about again? Oh right, 'girlfriend'. "It's more than okay." She said after a few moments with a silly shy grin that seemed never to leave her face when she talked to him. "I'm just going to take a moment to get some more tea to let the fact that my boyfriend is Tom Hiddleston sink in and then I will be right back." She said before doing the most British thing ever and having a cup of tea because she was so excited. You know what they say "Keep Calm" and all that jazz.

"That actually sounds like a good idea…" He said in agreement with a cheeky smirk before disappearing from the window as she did on his screen. _Okay, so that went well. Though I doubt I should push my luck and ask about the mishap on the phone earlier…_ It had kind of been bugging him for the afternoon but Andria seemed to be a little too sensitive about such things to bring it up without being there in person. He would leave it for now, he decided, and returned to the screen with his tea in hand.

Andria was already back and curled up under a blanket now as it was getting pretty chilly now. _I wish Tom was here so I could snuggle with him…_ _Nope. Bad idea Dria. You know that things would escalate and then you'll end up disappointing him again. It was bad enough the first time._ Andria mentally berated herself once again for that. She was so sure she was fine by now. _It's not fair on Tom…_ With a sigh, she looked up and realised Tom was already back and watching her with a puzzled expression.

"Contemplating the meaning of life and the universe?" He asked with a slight smile as he wondered what had her so deeply in thought.

"Oh! No… nothing very interesting I'm afraid. I was just thinking about how I suddenly have an influx of wedding cake orders that need to be done and how time consuming it was going to be." She lied smoothly, well it wasn't quite a lie –Technically she _did_ have a large number of orders for the winter wedding season. Plus, she was not about to let him into that particular part of her mind just yet.

_There she goes, trying to act to an actor again._ Tom internalised a sigh and nodded a little. "Do you like doing weddings? It seems like it would be very tiring work with so few people." He said, deciding not to dwell on the fact she was hiding something again. They had been together for about five minutes in relationship-time so it was fair for her to have her secrets, but he hoped one day soon they would be close enough that she wouldn't feel like she had to keep secrets so much.

After finishing what was left of her tea, Dria nodded and set the plate down. "Mm hm. It is a lot of work, because I am the only one who decorates for weddings at our bakery since the boss is always out and Alex has to run the store while I do them, but the hard work is worth it when I get to see photos of the happy couple cutting the cake and mashing it in each other's faces." She giggled softly. Brides always emailed her with pictures in their thank you emails.

"It is my favourite part of the wedding cake job, considering I used to be a planner and I kind of miss the other parts of weddings, so getting to see pictures always makes me happy." She said and smiled as she looked away, reminiscing about one of the good parts of her old life. _Telling him what I used to do should make up for not telling him anything personal since… well ever. _It was more just to make her feel less guilty for lying.

Tom raised his eyebrows. Andria seemed rather introverted to be the kind of people-person you needed to be for such a profession, he wondered what had happened to cause such a change. _Maybe it has to do with why she pushed me away the other night…_ Andria could almost see the gears turning in Tom's mind and started to regret that she had said anything, but he noticed and knew to leave it there for now. _One day I will know, so it's fine waiting._ He told himself and put on a wide smile. "That sounds like fun. I can't say I know a lot about weddings personally, I have only attended a handful."

"I bet you really bust out the moves on the dance floor too, huh?" Andria giggled, the genuine sound relieving both of them at the fact that they had returned to their fun topics now.

"But of course!" He said with a cheeky grin with his tongue sticking out adorably again.

"Which reminds me, did I tell you what your ringtone is on my phone? Alex did it." She said returning his grin. Oh how she just loved that smile! It was so contagious that she didn't know how anyone could possibly resist smiling when they saw Tom.

"I don't believe so, should I be concerned?" He asked wearily but still grinning like the cheese-ball he was. Why did he have a feeling that he knew what was coming as she prepared to play it. _Of course._ He thought as he heard 'Hips Don't Lie' start to play. _Of course it would be that _one _song._ Tom groaned and face palmed, though his expression was a playful one as he looked up at her smirking face.

"You have Alex to thank for that 'cos she linked me the video of you dancing and that was backing it along with clips of that interview you did." Andria said as she shut it off and scooted a little closer to her screen. "I miss you." She said suddenly as she realised they would have to go soon. It was already so late and she still had to work tomorrow morning.

Tom was a little caught by surprise at her comment since she seemed to prefer it when he initiated such things. "I miss you too, my darling, but it's only a little less than four more weeks and then I can hold you in my arms again." He said softly and smiled gently at her, wishing he could just give her a cuddle. It was easy to see that she was feeling lonely even as she was talking to him and that broke his heart. It seemed like she really had almost no one in her life and no one should be isolated like that.

"Yeah… It'll fly by, right?" She mumbled as she snuggled up into more of a blanket cocoon. Andria could see Tom was a little worried about her state of mind from her abrupt comment; it really was time to invest in a new brain-mouth filter…

"Right." said Tom. He felt like poor excuse of a partner since there was almost nothing he could do for her from London except what he was already doing. "And we can keep talking like this meanwhile –I know it's not the same but it's the best we can do sweetheart. I'll be by your side as soon as I can. You know that." He assured her and saw a soft smile tug at the edges of her lips. That was what he liked to see, that adorable shy smile of hers as she hid most of her face under the blanket.

_How is he already so… loyal and prefect after so short a time together?_ Dria wondered to herself as she spoke. "I do… I need to go to sleep Tom…" She said reluctantly and fidgeted with the corner of her blanket, not wanting to end their date.

With a slight sigh Tom nodded "Me too, but… I don't want to." He admitted with a smirk and Andria giggled softly. "I'll text you tomorrow, yeah?" He said softly with his adorable icy blue puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah. Good night Tom." Dria murmured as she hovered the mouse over the 'End' button.

"Good night my darling." He said softly, also poised to click off. But neither of them actually hit 'End' and after a few seconds of silence they both cracked up laughing. "Hang up." Tom said and pouted.

Dria just shook her head "Uh uh. You hang up!" She ordered with a grin. Normally the cliché would irk her, but it was fun just mucking around with Tom like this.

"No you!" He said with another 'ehehe'. Why did he have to be just _that_ adorable?! Andria couldn't resist Tom in all his sexy-yet-toally-cute-ness.

"Okay, on three we hang up together."

"Alright." He agreed with a nod. "One…"

"Two…"

"Three!" They said together but neither hung up.

"Seriously?" Andria asked with a smirk as she watched him.

"Seriously yourself. How do we settle this, hm?" Tom asked mimicking her expression. "Just wait for one of our laptops to die first?" He suggested and she saw the camera shake and move as Tom walked to his bed to lie down next to his computer.

"Sounds like a plan" Andria remarked, getting up off the couch and bundling up her blanket as she did before heading to bed also.

For the rest of the time Andria and Tom just stayed up chatting about random topics or sitting in comfortable silence as they effectively lay opposite each other in their beds until Tom noticed that Andria had fallen asleep. He smiled and kissed the screen since it was as close as he could get to touching her before turning off the Skype and going to sleep as well.

* * *

**A/N: Hey Delinquents, it's Panda. So… There's Andria's Skype date with Tom. I know it was a long chapter for something pretty slow but I think it helped to reveal a little about the nature of their future relationship and also gave some more insight into Andria's psyche and some of her past. "She was so sure she was fine by now." –But fine about what exactly? What could be holding her back?**

**Anyways, Question of the Update: **

_What do you think that Andria is hiding from Tom? And how long do you think he will keep quiet and ignore his urge to know why she's keeping her life prior to him secret or why she is so afraid of going to the next level of their physical relationship?_

**Until next time, I must bid thee adieu.**

**Panda, out.**


	16. Chapter 16

When Alex woke up the next morning, she was all alone. The bed felt warm under her fingers where Chris had lain with her, but only just. It seemed like he had gotten up a little while ago. Looking around her as she sat up, Alex scanned the room for any sign of him but found none. His clothes were gone while hers remained scattered around the bed.

After stretching, she turned to look at the alarm clock on her bedside table and saw a note folded in half which was addressed to her. "Hm?" She mumbled to herself as she picked it up and opened it. It was written in scruffy man-writing:

**_I'm sorry but I got a call for an emergency and couldn't bear to wake you up. I'll see you soon, I promise._**

**_-Chris xxx_**

Alex sighed heavily and flopped back on the mattress. The note lay open beside her on Chris' pillow but she didn't want to look at it. _I should have expected as much…_ She thought and rolled onto her side, away from the paper. _Tom came back to Dria, maybe Chris will keep his promise too?_

It was around 10am when she finally dragged herself out of bed. Her body ached a bit since she was a little out of practise due to the slim pickings in Greywood, but nothing major. Alex was more concentrated on the fact that she felt kind of miserable that she had done all that with him and he had just ditched her without a good bye. Sure, the note was cute, but not exactly what she expected for putting out on the first date. She wouldn't even have done that if she had kept better tabs on her alcohol and if it was anyone other than Chris. The spark she felt between them had removed all her inhibitions and now what did she have to show for it? Just a little note and some saddle-sore. Oh and a promise that he'll see her soon –who defined 'soon'? Was that a few days? A week? A year perhaps? To be honest it wasn't much of promise, only that Chris would see Alex somewhere at some point in time in the future.

Andria was looking after the bakery in the morning along with the boss who was actually in for once so Alex could just come in for the afternoon, but Dria was going to be out back working on the special orders for the second half of the day so there was no way that Alex could just call the rest of the day in as well as much as she wanted to. Plus, Dria would want to know how the date went, and after the third degree Alex had given her about Tom, she kind of owed it to her.

In the end she couldn't think of anything to do at home except sit there twiddling her thumbs so she decided maybe working was better than being alone with her thoughts, otherwise she was in danger of thinking things like _Maybe he ditched because I was a bad shag… No, last night was the best so it had to be something else… Maybe it's because I'm not a stick thin model?_ It was things like that that would make her feel even more frustrated with his premature absence.

After sending a text to Dria telling her that she would be

In the morning, Dria woke up to a black screen facing her and realised that she must have accidentally fallen asleep without saying goodnight to Tom last night and let her laptop die. She was about to send an apology text when she saw that Tom had already sent her one.

**I saw that you fell asleep and ended up hanging up, so you won in the end darling. I hope you had a good sleep?**

**-T xx**

Andria smiled and tapped away a reply quickly before getting up to get ready for work. She was dying to know how Alex's date had gone but she had to wait until the afternoon and had a feeling that it was something she should inquire about in person versus text message.

**I did, very well after being able to talk to you ;) What about you? **

**I have a busy day today so my replies might be slow.**

**-A xx**

After getting out of the shower, Andria grabbed her things and headed out. She was still very tired since talking with Tom had kept her up longer than he ought to have been awake for with an early start this morning but in her mind it was totally worth it. It was just the matter of keeping up with the contact like this in the time before the opening night had Dria a little worried. With both of their busy schedules, it was going to be more difficult to have long chats like that often…

When it was her morning break, Dria took out her phone to see she had a reply from Tom and a text from Alex too.

**Yes I slept very well as well. Okay, well I won't distract you and just call you tonight, alright sweetheart?**

**-T xx**

Andria replied with a quick message imitating how he always used pet names even in texts:

**Okay then, have a good day darling.**

**-A xxx**

She then opened the second message to see Alex was apparently also on her way in. Unusual, maybe her date hadn't gone as well as she'd assumed it would from their earlier display.

**Hey. I'm going to be coming in to the Shale 'n' Bake early. I need something to do before I go mad.**

_Really? Wow, I wonder what could've gone down between them for her to actually want to come into work after a night out…_ That was certainly out for character for Alex which made Andria a tad worried. She was sure it was just the classic cliché things like awkward silence, mismatched personalities or some other thing.

It was a half hour later when Alex arrived. She looked a little drained, like sleep had escaped her last night. Dria raised an eyebrow at her but didn't question her as she grabbed her apron and got to work beside Andria's bench.

"I know. I look terrible right?" Alex said softly with a slight smirk as she began on some éclairs.

"Well… I can't say you look well rested." Dria said as she began rolling out some fondant. There were faint purple circles around Alex's eyes which the concealer wasn't able to fully cover and her hair was just pulled back into a messy bun.

"I'm not. I had the best night of my life last night." Alex remarked and giggled softly, though Dria could tell her heart wasn't entirely in it.

Andria set down her rolling pin and just gave Alex the look –the "Alright, let's hear what he did." look.

Alex thought about her words for a second before she spoke. "Well…" She said with a grin spreading unbidden on her face. "I might have gotten lucky last night…" She looked up to see that Dria's face was like 'What the fuck?' since she was now extraordinarily confused as Alex still appeared to be irked about something even if her lack of sleep had been explained.

If they had… you know… why was Alex here _early_ of all things. Didn't normal couples lounge in bed and cuddle or have breakfast together or something? Unless he… "He didn't!" Dria said, shocked.

Alex nodded with a sigh, knowing exactly what Andria was on about. "He left me a note at least, so it wasn't a total sneak out. He said he'd had an emergency and would see me soon." The way she said that made Andria think that Alex didn't exactly believe it. She didn't want to think she had just been completely kicked to the curb, but then again since he was an actor he probably used those lines on everyone as an easy excuse to get laid and then have nothing to with the girl afterward. "Doesn't make me feel very much better though."

"I don't think that you should worry too much about it, I mean, I could ask Tom about it if you want…" Andria offered, wondering if maybe he could talk to his co-star about whether or not he was serious with that promise. If he mucked Alex around, Chris would have Andria to answer too and hell to pay. That was _her_ promise.

"Nah. I'll be right. I just kind of regret drinking so much, I got myself into this and now I have to deal with a headache on top of it." She said and rubbed her temple a little. "I'll deal with this myself so don't go telling the guys about it. Plus, what if I kick up a fuss and it turns out he was telling the truth? I'd look like a bit of a dick."

"Well you know you're meant to drink some water when you start on the alcohol so that doesn't happen." Andria said in an 'I told you so' tone of voice. "And yeah, you're right. I'll leave it, but the option's there anyways." She said softly before returning back to her latest project.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! This is just a quickie because I have to write a shit-load of essays this weekend, so if you hear from me again before next week then tell me to get back to work XP**

**Question of the Update: **

_So as you can probably tell, something's up between Chris and Alex. Or is she just pulling the classic over-thinking-woman move? What do you think my dear Delinquents? Is he really going to bounce after their night together? Just when everything seemed too good to be true? –well maybe it was :)_

**Panda, out.**


	17. Chapter 17

"So you haven't heard anything?" Andria asked Tom as she held the phone to her ear. She was in the middle of stirring some bolognaise for her dinner and had been talking to Tom for the last half hour while he was one break during rehearsal.

Tom sighed softly and Dria could almost hear him shaking his head. "I'm afraid not, darling. It's only been a few days; maybe he really did have an emergency. Chris Evans isn't a bad guy and he's not known for screwing around, so I'm sure he was telling the truth. I could always ask Robert, maybe he's heard something?" He offered, wishing he could do more to help. Although he thought it wasn't really his place to meddle, he couldn't stand to think that Andria was worried about her friend's emotional well-being.

Even if Dria was asking Tom behind Alex's back, she thought it best to keep the inquisition under control and leave it at Tom. "No. Thank you though." She said softly and plated up her dinner. Dria was looking forward to the time where she would be able to actually have conversations like this across the dinner table versus this calling business. It wasn't the same as having him actually here, within touching distance. Sometimes these conversations made her feel lonelier than when she was just sitting there by herself quietly just because it was another reminder at how far away he really was.

"Alright, as long as you're sure. I'm certain everything will work out just fine sweetheart." He reassured her across the line before Dria heard some muffled shouting in the background. She knew that must be his cue to hang up and get back to work but she didn't want him to go just yet. "I'm afraid I'm being berated for holding up a scene darling. I'll talk to you soon, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Tom." She said softly with a sad smile which fell away completely into a look of sorrow at the sound of him hanging up. _Yay…_ She thought as she looked down at her dinner and began to eat it slowly. _Just another dinner alone. How many days is it till the 6th?_ Looking over at the calendar she saw that she still had the better part of the month to go. _Because _so_ much could have changed in the last few hours since I looked at it_.

She sent herself to bed early that night in order to make up for another late night Skype date yesterday and she was the only one in tomorrow morning which meant an early start.

"You don't know what's up either?" Tom asked as he sat across from Robert who he had come home to just chilling on Tom's sofa _again._ Was there really that little to do around here in London?

Robert shrugged, "Nope. I just gave Chris the address and left him to it. Figured he might still be, uh, busy, so I didn't text him the next day and then I got distracted with the wife so I didn't think about it. He'll check in soon, knowing him so don't worry about it."

"Well I wouldn't, but it's making Alex worry which in turn is making Andria worried, which worries me." Tom said and sighed softly as he ran his hand though his hair. "It's not exactly gentlemanly behaviour to just up and leave without waking her up if he's slept with a girl. Let alone that he said he'd see her again but didn't give her a way to contact him at all. It's cruel to just do that and leave the girl on the hook when she doesn't even know if he will keep his promise."

Robert nodded. "Yes, well I'm sure he had his reasons. It's not like Chris to pull a stunt like that. I'll flick him a call and get the story from his side tomorrow."

"No, I shouldn't even have said anything to you. Andria told me not to…" Tom said, shaking his head with a kind of sheepish expression. "But I didn't want her to worry without cause if I could stop it.

"Well then, I'll leave it and just let you know what's up when I hear from him." He said and pushed himself off the couch. "I suppose I should get going since it's getting late."

It had been a week and a half and Alex had yet to hear from anyone about Chris, not even the paparazzi had anything for her even when he was about to be premiering the new Captain America movie. She had reconciled with the fact it was a one night stand after all but it didn't make it hurt less. Chris had made her believe he liked her, not just for someone to bed for the night while he was in town, but no one had mentioned him which made her believe Andria had kept her promise not to say anything to Tom though sometimes Alex wished she'd taken up the offer just for peace of mind.

She wanted to forget all about it but couldn't bring herself to throw away the note she had found that morning either, letting her stupid crush get the best of her. It kind of made her jealous that Dria got to at least speak to Tom even if he was far away in London. Alex had noticed that Andria was being more conscious about doing it around her since Dria was afraid that it would make Alex feel weird that she actually got to date her celebrity.

What happened between Alex and Chris that night made her wonder if Andria was planning on doing anything _special_ for Tom while she was in London. The thought made her worry since she knew that Dria hadn't said a word about the incident before she moved here and that she was obviously still not ready from what Dria had told her of their night together. Andria could be rather persistent about things and she hated to think that her best friend would have a break down again.

She had told Andria that she should just be honest and tell him when she saw him before the opportunity to go too far arose, but Dria insisted that it wait until after Christmas though this made Alex a little uneasy. When Andria made her mind up like that thought, there was nothing that even her best friend could do.

It was when Robert showed up at the bakery that Alex was torn from her reverie.

"Oh… Uh, good afternoon." She said in surprise and smiled half-heartedly.

"Hey. So I talked to Chris." He began.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! Sorry this took so long, but the assignments piled on and I am now free! Whoo! This would've been done and to a higher quality yesterday but that thing called a social life happened to me out of the blue (I know, a social life? I had to google to understand what it was) And took up my Friday night with Magic: The Gathering at my friend's place so… yeah. Okay, maybe it wasn't as social as a uni student's life ought to be, but I was at another person's house with a group of people doing a thing, so hey, it counts right? No question of the update since it's 1am and I need sleep _ **

**Panda out.**


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